Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 15, Shloka 10

Adhyaya 15 — Karmic Retribution: Rebirths After Naraka and the King’s Compassion in Hell

Sanskrit

श्वा शृगालो वको गृध्रो व्याडः कङ्कस्तथा क्रमात् । भ्रातृभार्यां च दुर्बुद्धिर्यो धर्षयति पापकृत् ॥

Transliteration

śvā śṛgālo vako gṛdhro vyāḍaḥ kaṅkastathā kramāt / bhrātṛbhāryāñca durbuddhiryo dharṣayati pāpakṛt

Translation

အစဉ်လိုက် သူသည် ခွေး၊ မြေခွေး (jackal)၊ ငှက်ကရံ (heron)၊ ငှက်လင်းတ (vulture)၊ မြွေ၊ နှင့် ကင်္ကာငှက် (kanka-bird) အဖြစ် ဖြစ်လာသည်။ စိတ်ယုတ်မာသော အပြစ်ပြုသူက မိမိအစ်ကို၏ ဇနီးကို ဖောက်ပြန်လျှင် ဤသို့သော မွေးဖွားမှုများသို့ ကျရောက်သည်။

Word by Word

• श्वा: a dog
• श्वा: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्वन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन (singular)

• शृगालः: a jackal
• शृगालः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शृगाल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• वकः: a heron
• वकः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• गृध्रः: a vulture
• गृध्रः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गृध्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• व्याडः: a serpent
• व्याडः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्याड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• कङ्कः: a kite (bird)
• कङ्कः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कङ्क (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• तथा: thus/likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• क्रमात्: in sequence/gradually
• क्रमात्: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाववत् प्रयोगः; पञ्चमी-एकवचनरूपेण क्रियाविशेषण (adverbial ablative: 'in due order/gradually')

• भ्रातृ-भार्याम्: (his) brother's wife
• भ्रातृ-भार्याम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ (प्रातिपदिक) + भार्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), द्वितीया (2nd case, Accusative), एकवचन (singular)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय (conjunction)

• दुर्बुद्धिः: the evil-minded person
• दुर्बुद्धिः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर् (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + बुद्धि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन (singular)

• यः: who
• यः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक (relative pronoun)

• धर्षयति: violates/assaults
• धर्षयति: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √धर्ष् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद (Parasmaipada)

• पापकृत्: evil-doer/sinner
• पापकृत्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप (प्रातिपदिक) + कृत् (कृदन्त, √कृ)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कृत्-प्रत्ययान्त (agent noun: 'doer')

Speakers

• Not specified in input (didactic narration)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Incest-adjacent/kinship boundary violation
• Karma and rebirth
• Gradation of consequences

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Kinship boundaries are treated as dharmic safeguards; violating them is portrayed as producing repeated, increasingly harsh embodiments associated with scavenging, predation, and impurity.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Dharma/karma-vipāka instruction; not directly sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita.

What is the esoteric significance?

A chain of births implies entrenched saṃskāras: the mind-pattern of violation is not ‘one-and-done’ but can generate a momentum of coarse embodiments unless countered by repentance and restraint.