Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 12, Shloka 7

Adhyaya 12 — The Son Describes the Narakas: Mahāraurava, Tamas, Nikṛntana, Apratiṣṭha, Asipatravana, and Taptakumbha

Sanskrit

काकैर्वकैर्वृकोलूकैर्वृश्चिकैर्मशकैस्तथा ।

भक्ष्यमाणस्तथा गृध्रैर्द्रुतं मार्गे विकृष्यते ॥

Transliteration

kākair vakair vṛkolūkair vṛścikair maśakais tathā /

bhakṣyamāṇas tathā gṛdhrair drutaṃ mārge vikṛṣyate

Translation

ကျီးကန်း၊ ငှက်ကန့် (heron)၊ ဝံပုလွေ၊ ငှက်ည (owl) တို့ကလည်းကောင်း၊ ကင်းမြီးကောက်နှင့် ခြင်တို့ကလည်းကောင်း၊ ထို့ပြင် လင်းတတို့ကလည်းကောင်း ကိုက်စားကြသဖြင့်၊ သူသည် လမ်းကြောင်းတစ်လျှောက် အလျင်အမြန် ဆွဲခေါ်ခံရသည်။

Word by Word

• kākaiḥ: by crows
• kākaiḥ: Karana (करण/Agent-instrument in passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural (बहुवचन)

• vakaiḥ: by herons/cranes
• vakaiḥ: Karana (करण/Agent-instrument in passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: baka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural (बहुवचन)

• vṛka-ulūkaiḥ: by wolves and owls
• vṛka-ulūkaiḥ: Karana (करण/Agent-instrument in passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛka (प्रातिपदिक) + ulūka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural (बहुवचन); dvandva: 'wolves and owls'

• vṛścikaiḥ: by scorpions
• vṛścikaiḥ: Karana (करण/Agent-instrument in passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛścika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural (बहुवचन)

• maśakaiḥ: by mosquitoes
• maśakaiḥ: Karana (करण/Agent-instrument in passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maśaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural (बहुवचन)

• tathā: also, likewise
• tathā: Samuccaya (समुच्चय/Also)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb/particle (क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय)

• bhakṣyamāṇaḥ: being devoured
• bhakṣyamāṇaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √bhakṣ (भक्ष्) → bhakṣyamāṇa (कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); present passive participle (शानच्/यमान) meaning 'being eaten'

• tathā: also
• tathā: Samuccaya (समुच्चय/Also)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb/particle (क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय)

• gṛdhraiḥ: by vultures
• gṛdhraiḥ: Karana (करण/Agent-instrument in passive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gṛdhra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural (बहुवचन)

• drutam: quickly
• drutam: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: druta (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: Adverbial accusative (क्रियाविशेषण-रूपेण द्वितीया)

• mārge: on the path
• mārge: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mārga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)

• vikṛṣyate: is dragged
• vikṛṣyate: Kriya (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√kṛṣ (कृष्)
• Form: Present tense (लट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद); passive sense 'is dragged/pulled'

Speakers

• Unspecified in provided excerpt

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "bibhatsa", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Karma-phala
• Retribution imagery
• Naraka

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Cruelty and predation become mirrored back upon the sinner; the verse uses visceral imagery to deter harm and cultivate restraint and compassion.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Didactic supplement—ethical instruction through afterlife narrative; not directly sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita.

What is the esoteric significance?

The many biting creatures symbolize fragmented mental afflictions (kleśas): when integrity is lost, the psyche is ‘consumed’ by swarms of minor but relentless pains.