Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 11, Shloka 15

Adhyaya 11 — The Son’s Discourse on Embryogenesis, Birth, and the Wheel of Saṃsāra

Sanskrit

इति चिन्तयते स्मृत्वा जन्मदुःखशतानि वै ।

यानि पूर्वानुभूतानि दैवभूतानि यानि वै ॥

Transliteration

iti cintayate smṛtvā janmaduḥ khaśatāni vai / yāni pūrvānubhūtāni daivabhūtāni yāni vai

Translation

ထိုသို့ စဉ်းစားလျက် သူသည် မွေးဖွားခြင်း၏ ဒုက္ခများကို ရာချီအထိ အမှန်တကယ် သတိရသည်—ယခင်က ကြုံတွေ့ခဲ့သည့်အရာများနှင့် ကံကြမ္မာ/ဘုရားသတ်မှတ်ချက်ကြောင့် ပေါ်ပေါက်လာသည့်အရာများကိုပါ။

Word by Word

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/quotative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: उक्त्यर्थक अव्यय (quotative particle: thus)

• cintayate: he reflects/thinks
• cintayate: Kriya (क्रिया/verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √cint (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• smṛtvā: having remembered
• smṛtvā: Kriya (क्रिया/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √smṛ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund, -त्वा), अव्ययभाव (indeclinable)

• janma-duḥkha-śatāni: hundreds of pains of birth
• janma-duḥkha-śatāni: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janma (प्रातिपदिक) + duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक) + śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुपद-तत्पुरुष-समास (“hundreds of birth-sufferings”); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Accusative), बहुवचन

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चयार्थक अव्यय (indeed)

• yāni: which (things)
• yāni: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा (Acc/Nom), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धक (relative pronoun)

• pūrva-anubhūtāni: previously experienced
• pūrva-anubhūtāni: Karma (कर्म/object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pūrva (प्रातिपदिक) + anu√bhū (धातु) क्त-कृदन्त anubhūta
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (“previously-experienced”); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• daiva-bhūtāni: caused by fate/divine ordinance
• daiva-bhūtāni: Karma (कर्म/object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: daiva (प्रातिपदिक) + bhūta (√bhū, क्त-कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (“fate-caused/daiva-formed”); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• yāni: which (indeed)
• yāni: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा, बहुवचन; पुनरुक्त-सम्बन्धक (repeated relative)

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चयार्थक अव्यय (indeed)

Speakers

• Interior monologue of the jīva/fetus (as represented by the narrator)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Memory of past births
• Saṃsāra-duḥkha
• Daiva (fate/divine dispensation) and karma

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Repeated suffering is not accidental in the purāṇic worldview; it is tied to karma and daiva. The intended lesson is urgency (saṃvega): take up dharma and liberation-oriented practice before forgetfulness returns.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Didactic/soteriological content; it frames human life within karmic law rather than functioning as sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa material.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Daiva-bhūta’ points to the supra-personal order (ṛta/dharma) that governs experience. Recognizing this order can shift the seeker from self-blame or randomness to disciplined practice aimed at transcendence.