Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 26, Shloka 23

Adhyaya 26 — Madālasa Names Alarka and Reorients Him Toward Kshatriya Duty

Sanskrit

यदि संव्यवहारार्थमसन्नाम प्रकल्प्यते /

नाम्नि कस्मादलर्काख्ये नैरर्थ्यं भवतो मतम्

Transliteration

yadi saṃvyavahārārtham asan-nāma prakalpyate | nāmni kasmād alarkākhye nairarthyaṃ bhavato matam ||

Translation

«လောကရေးရာ ဆက်ဆံမှုအတွက် မမှန်ကန်သော အမည်တစ်ခုကို တီထွင်ထားလျှင်၊ ‘အလရ္က’ ဟူသော အမည်အမှု၌ သင်သည် အဘယ်ကြောင့် ‘အဓိပ္ပါယ်မရှိခြင်း’ ဟု မယူဆသနည်း?»

Word by Word

• yadi: if
• yadi: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Condition)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: शर्तार्थक-अव्यय (conditional particle)

• saṃvyavahārārtham: for the sake of practical usage
• saṃvyavahārārtham: Prayojana (प्रयोजन/Purpose)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃ-vyavahāra-artha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; समासः: saṃvyavahāra + artha (purpose of transaction/usage)

• asat: unreal, non-existent
• asat: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a-sat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• nāma: name
• nāma: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• prakalpyate: is posited/constructed
• prakalpyate: Kriyā (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-kḷp (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोगः (passive: 'is posited/constructed')

• nāmni: in the name (as a designation)
• nāmni: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• kasmāt: from what? why?
• kasmāt: Hetu (हेतु/Reason-source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक-सर्वनाम

• alarka-ākhye: in (the designation) called ‘Alarka’
• alarka-ākhye: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: alarka-ākhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; समासः: alarka + ākhya ('called Alarka')

• nairarthyam: meaninglessness
• nairarthyam: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nairarthya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• bhavataḥ: of you/your
• bhavataḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhavat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; आदरार्थक-प्रयोग (honorific 'your')

• matam: opinion, view
• matam: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mata (प्रातिपदिक; √man 'to think' से निष्पन्न)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; भाववाचक (opinion)

Speakers

• Likely the King responding/raising a question to Mādālasā (dialogic objection)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Pragmatics of language
• Conventional designation
• Philosophical consistency (pūrvapakṣa)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse introduces a rational challenge: if all names are conventional, none should claim intrinsic ‘meaning.’ It models reflective inquiry rather than blind acceptance.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

A dialogic philosophical interlude; not pancalakṣaṇa.

What is the esoteric significance?

The objection highlights the two-level doctrine: language is necessary for transactions yet inadequate for ultimate truth. The tension itself is pedagogical, pushing the listener to discriminate (viveka).