Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 10, Shloka 40

Adhyaya 10 — Jaimini’s Questions on Birth, Death, Karma, and the Embodied Journey

Sanskrit

उत्क्रान्तिकालादारभ्य स्मृतिलोपो न मेऽभवत् ।

यावदब्दं गतं चैव जन्मनां स्मृतिमागताम् ॥

Transliteration

utkrānti-kālād ārabhya smṛti-lopo na me ’bhavat | yāvad abdaṃ gataṃ caiva janmanāṃ smṛtim āgatām ||

Translation

ငါ၏ ကိုယ်ခန္ဓာမှ ထွက်ခွာသည့်အချိန်မှစ၍ ငါ့အတွက် မှတ်ဉာဏ်ပျောက်ဆုံးမှု မရှိခဲ့။ အချိန်ကာလ ကုန်လွန်လာသော် (တစ်နှစ်အထိပင်) မွေးဖွားမှုများကို မှတ်မိခြင်းသည် ငါ့ထံသို့ ရောက်လာ하였다။

Word by Word

• उत्क्रान्तिकालात्: from the time of departure (death)
• उत्क्रान्तिकालात्: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उत्क्रान्ति (प्रातिपदिक) + काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास: उत्क्रान्तेः कालः; पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (Ablative, 5th), एकवचन

• आरभ्य: starting from
• आरभ्य: Kāla-avadhi (कालावधि)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आ-√रभ् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा/ल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive used adverbially): ‘beginning from’

• स्मृतिलोपः: loss of memory
• स्मृतिलोपः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्मृति (प्रातिपदिक) + लोप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुषसमास: स्मृतेः लोपः; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative, 1st), एकवचन

• न: not
• न: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (negation particle)

• मे: to me / for me
• मे: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, चतुर्थी (Dative, 4th), एकवचन

• अभवत्: occurred
• अभवत्: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/Past), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• यावत्: up to / as long as
• यावत्: Kāla-avadhi (कालावधि)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यावत् (अव्यय)
• Form: परिमाण/अवधि-वाचक अव्यय (limit/extent marker): ‘as long as / up to’

• अब्दम्: a year
• अब्दम्: Kāla-parimāṇa (कालपरिमाण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अब्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), एकवचन; कालपरिमाण (measure of time)

• गतम्: elapsed
• गतम्: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past participle) from √गम्; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘elapsed’ (agreeing with ‘अब्दम्’ as time-extent)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• एव: indeed/just
• एव: Avadhāraṇa (अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• जन्मनाम्: of births
• जन्मनाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (Genitive, 6th), बहुवचन (Plural)

• स्मृतिम्: memory
• स्मृतिम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्मृति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), एकवचन

• आगताम्: that had come/returned
• आगताम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past participle) from √गम् with उपसर्ग ‘आ’; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative, 2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण of ‘स्मृतिम्’

Speakers

• Son (bird) narrating post-mortem continuity of awareness

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Smṛti (memory) across death
• Rebirth doctrine
• Subtle-body continuity
• Karmic record

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Conscious continuity is asserted beyond bodily death; remembrance of prior lives underscores karmic accountability and the long arc of spiritual effort.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Doctrinal teaching on jīva and karma conveyed through narrative testimony; not directly within the five formal headings, but supportive of Purāṇic dharma and mokṣa instruction.

What is the esoteric significance?

Unbroken memory from utkrānti suggests a refined subtle apparatus (sūkṣma-śarīra) and heightened sattva; ‘a year’ can indicate a maturation interval in which latent impressions reorganize into coherent recollection.