Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 16, Shloka 24

Adhyaya 16 — The Son’s Counsel on Renunciation and the Anasuya–Mandavya Episode: The Suspension of Sunrise and the Power of Pativrata

Sanskrit

तत् तदा वचनं श्रुत्वा भर्तुः कामातुरस्य सा ।

तत्पत्नी सत्कुलोत्पन्ना महाभागा पतिव्रता ॥

Transliteration

tat tadā vacanaṃ śrutvā bhartuḥ kāmāturasya sā / tatpatnī satkulotpannā mahābhāgā pativratā

Translation

ထိုအခါ ဆန္ဒကြောင့် ပူပန်နေသော ခင်ပွန်း၏ စကားကို ကြားသော်၊ မိသားစုကောင်းမှ မွေးဖွား၍ ကံကောင်းသည့်၊ ခင်ပွန်းကို သစ္စာရှိစွာ ဆည်းကပ်သော ဇနီးသည် လိုက်နာရန် ပြင်ဆင်၏။

Word by Word

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• तदा: then
• तदा: Kala (काल/Temporal)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb)

• वचनम्: speech/words
• वचनम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वचन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• श्रुत्वा: having heard
• श्रुत्वा: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √श्रु (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive)

• भर्तुः: of (her) husband
• भर्तुः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भर्तृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• कामातुरस्य: of the love-stricken
• कामातुरस्य: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कामातुर (प्रातिपदिक: काम + आतुर)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (kāmena āturaḥ)

• सा: she
• सा: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• तत्-पत्नी: his wife
• तत्-पत्नी: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् + पत्नी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (tasya patnī)

• सत्-कुल-उत्पन्ना: born in a good family
• सत्-कुल-उत्पन्ना: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सत् + कुल + उत्पन्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण; समासः तत्पुरुष (satkule utpannā)

• महाभागा: very fortunate/noble
• महाभागा: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाभाग (प्रातिपदिक: महा + भाग)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण; कर्मधारय (mahān bhāgaḥ yasyāḥ)

• पतिव्रता: devoted to her husband
• पतिव्रता: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पतिव्रत (प्रातिपदिक: पति + व्रत)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण; तत्पुरुष (pati-vratam yasyāḥ)

Speakers

• Narrator

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Pativrata-dharma
• Tension between virtue and harmful compliance

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The text foregrounds the pativrata ideal, yet the episode will test its limits: virtue is not mere compliance, because compliance can collide with the welfare of others and with higher dharma.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Didactic narrative (vaṃśānucarita-like) used to teach dharma through consequence rather than a direct cosmological lakṣaṇa.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Good birth’ and ‘fortune’ are shown as capacities for dharma, but not guarantees of right discernment; dharma requires viveka (discrimination) alongside devotion.