Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 26, Shloka 9

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

Sanskrit

राजोवाच क्रियमाणेऽसकृन्नाम्नि कथ्यतां हास्यकारणम् ।

विक्रान्तश्च सुबाहुश्च तथान्यः शत्रुमर्दनः ॥

Transliteration

rājovāca kriyamāṇe 'sakṛn nāmni kathyatāṃ hāsyakāraṇam / vikrāntaś ca subāhuś ca tathānyaḥ śatrumardanaḥ

Translation

မင်းကြီးက မိန့်တော်မူသည်—«အမည်ပေးသည့်အခါတိုင်း သင်သည် ထပ်ခါထပ်ခါ ရယ်နေသည်။ သင်ရယ်ရသည့် အကြောင်းရင်းကို ငါ့အား ပြောပါ။ (ငါသည်) ဗိကရန္တ၊ သုဘာဟု နှင့် အခြားတစ်ယောက်ကို Śatrumardana ဟု အမည်ပေးထားသည်» ဟု။

Word by Word

• राजा: the king
• राजा: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• क्रियमाणे: while (it is) being done
• क्रियमाणे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु) + śāna (शानच्)
• Form: वर्तमानकर्मणि कृदन्त (शानच्), नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; locative absolute sense ‘while being done’

• असकृत्: repeatedly
• असकृत्: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: asakṛt (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (frequency adverb)

• नाम्नि: in the name (naming)
• नाम्नि: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• कथ्यताम्: let it be told
• कथ्यताम्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kath (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive imperative)

• हास्यकारणम्: the cause of laughter
• हास्यकारणम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hāsya (प्रातिपदिक) + kāraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (हास्यस्य कारणम्)

• विक्रान्तः: Vikrānta
• विक्रान्तः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vikrānta (प्रातिपदिक/क्त from vi√kram)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; proper name/epithet

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

• सुबाहुः: Subāhu
• सुबाहुः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: subāhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः (सु बाही यस्य) used as name

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-निपात

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (likewise)

• अन्यः: another
• अन्यः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; adjective/pronominal

• शत्रुमर्दनः: Śatrumardana
• शत्रुमर्दनः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śatru (प्रातिपदिक) + mardana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (शत्रूणां मर्दनः) used as name

Speakers

• King (rājā) addressing Madālasa

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dialogue
• Royal naming conventions
• Ego and identity
• Questioning and reasoning

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The king’s pride in heroic names is natural to kṣatriya culture, yet the text sets up a critique: identity built on power-epithets is fragile and may miss the child’s higher welfare.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Upākhyāna used for Dharma teaching; tangentially related to Vaṃśānucarita (royal family narrative), but the focus is ethical/psychological rather than genealogical cataloguing.

What is the esoteric significance?

Names like Vikrānta/Subāhu/Śatrumardana symbolize outward force; the coming teaching will invert this, presenting inner mastery as the true ‘heroism’.