Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 14, Shloka 75

Adhyaya 14 — The Messenger of Yama Explains Karmic Retribution and the Causes of Naraka Torments

Sanskrit

तथैव कण्टकैर्दीर्घैरायसैः पश्य शाल्मलिम् ।

आरोपिता विभिन्नाङ्गाः प्रभूतासृक्स्रवाविलाः ॥

Transliteration

tathaiva kaṇṭakair dīrghair āyasaiḥ paśya śālmalim / āropitā vibhinnāṅgāḥ prabhūtāsṛkstravāvilāḥ

Translation

ထို့အတူ ရှည်လျားသော သံဆူးများရှိသည့် လက်ပံပင် (Shalmali) ကို ကြည့်လော့။ လူတို့သည် ၎င်းကို တက်ရောက်ရန် စေခိုင်းခံရပြီး၊ ၎င်းတို့၏ ခြေလက်အင်္ဂါများ စုတ်ပြတ်ကာ များပြားသော သွေးစီးကြောင်းများဖြင့် စိုရွှဲလျက်ရှိ၏။

Word by Word

• तथा: thus
• तथा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle/emphasis)

• कण्टकैः: with thorns/spikes
• कण्टकैः: Karana (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कण्टक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• दीर्घैः: long
• दीर्घैः: Karana (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दीर्घ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (कण्टकैः)

• आयसैः: iron (made of iron)
• आयसैः: Karana (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आयस (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (कण्टकैः)

• पश्य: see! behold!
• पश्य: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √पश् (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन

• शाल्मलिम्: the śālmali tree (silk-cotton tree)
• शाल्मलिम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शाल्मलि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• आरोपिताः: mounted/impaled (made to climb)
• आरोपिताः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ-√रुह् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle, क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• विभिन्न-अङ्गाः: with limbs torn apart
• विभिन्न-अङ्गाः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि-√भिद् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त) + अङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहि-समासः (येषाम् अङ्गानि विभिन्नानि)

• प्रभूत-असृक्-स्रव-अविलाः: muddied by copious flowing blood
• प्रभूत-असृक्-स्रव-अविलाः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रभूत (प्रातिपदिक) + असृक् (प्रातिपदिक) + स्रव (प्रातिपदिक) + अविल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; बहुव्रीहि-समासः (येषां प्रभूतं असृक् स्रवति तेन अविलाः)

Speakers

• Not specified in the provided excerpt.

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Karmaphala
• Naraka (hell) imagery
• Violent retribution symbolism

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse uses visceral imagery to deter grave misconduct, stressing that pleasures pursued through harm and transgression culminate in pain proportionate to the offense.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Ethical/karmic (dharma/karmaphala) segment, not a direct instance of the five lakṣaṇas.

What is the esoteric significance?

The thorn-tree represents the ‘tree of desire’: ascent motivated by craving results in self-wounding at every step. Iron thorns indicate hardened, unyielding consequences.