Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 15, Shloka 78

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

Sanskrit

पुत्र उवाच ततोऽपतत् पुष्पवृष्टिस्तस्योपरि महीपतेः ।

विमानञ्चाधिरोप्यैनं स्वर्लोकमनयद्धरिः ॥

Transliteration

putra uvāca tato 'patat puṣpavṛṣṭis tasyopari mahīpateḥ | vimānañ cādhiropyainaṃ svarlokam anayad hariḥ ||

Translation

သားက ပြောသည်– “ထို့နောက် ထိုမင်းကြီးပေါ်သို့ ပန်းမိုးရွာသကဲ့သို့ ပန်းများ ကျလာသည်။ ဟရီသည် သူ့ကို ကောင်းကင်ရထားပေါ် တင်၍ စွဝဂ္ဂသို့ ခေါ်ဆောင်သွား၏။”

Word by Word

• putraḥ: the son
• putraḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: putra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: Liṭ-lakāra (लिट्/perfect), Prathama-puruṣa, Singular; Parasmaipada

• tataḥ: then/thereupon
• tataḥ: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (क्रियाविशेषण) of sequence

• apatat: fell down
• apatat: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pat (धातु)
• Form: Laṅ-lakāra (लङ्/imperfect past), Prathama-puruṣa, Singular; Parasmaipada

• puṣpa-vṛṣṭiḥ: a shower of flowers
• puṣpa-vṛṣṭiḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṣpa (प्रातिपदिक) + vṛṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; tatpuruṣa: ‘पुष्पाणां वृष्टिः’

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma (सर्वनाम), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• upari: upon/above
• upari: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: upari (अव्यय)
• Form: Prepositional adverb (उपसर्गसदृश अव्यय)

• mahī-pateḥ: of the king
• mahī-pateḥ: Sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahī (प्रातिपदिक) + pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular; ṣaṣṭhī-tatpuruṣa

• vimānam: a celestial car
• vimānam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vimāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चय)

• adhiropya: having seated (him) upon
• adhiropya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: adhi+ruh (धातु)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (क्त्वा/ल्यप्), ‘having mounted/placed upon’

• enam: him/this one
• enam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma (सर्वनाम), Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

• svar-lokam: to heaven
• svar-lokam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svar (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; tatpuruṣa: ‘स्वरः लोकः’ (heaven-world)

• anayat: led/took
• anayat: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nī (धातु)
• Form: Laṅ-lakāra (लङ्/imperfect past), Prathama-puruṣa, Singular; Parasmaipada; ā+√nī in sense

• hariḥ: Hari (Indra/Vishnu, here: the deity)
• hariḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hari (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

Speakers

• Son narrating to father (Pitā–Putra-saṃvāda)

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Hari (Viṣṇu)

Key Themes

• Divine reward
• Svarga
• Vimāna motif
• Honor for virtue

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Public honor (flowers) and divine conveyance (vimāna) symbolize the recognition of dharma. The narrative reinforces that compassionate intention is not ‘wasted’; it is affirmed at the cosmic level.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Ākhyāna serving dharma instruction; not cosmogenesis or genealogy proper.

What is the esoteric significance?

The vimāna is a symbol of subtle-body ascent: uplift from heavy karmic states to lighter realms. The flower-rain signifies inner purity (sattva) manifesting outwardly as auspiciousness.