Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 27, Shloka 17

Adhyaya 27 — Madālasa’s Instruction to King Alarka: Royal Ethics, Self-Conquest, and Statecraft

Sanskrit

काककोकिलभृङ्गाणां मृगव्यालशिखण्डिनाम् ।

हंसकुक्कुटलोहानां शिक्षेत चरितं नृपः ॥

Transliteration

kāka-kokila-bhṛṅgāṇāṃ mṛga-vyāla-śikhaṇḍinām | haṃsa-kukkuṭa-lohānāṃ śikṣeta caritaṃ nṛpaḥ ||

Translation

မင်းသည် ကျင့်ဝတ်သင့်တော်သော အပြုအမူပုံစံများကို ကြက်ကောင်၊ ကုကူငှက်၊ ပျား၊ သမင်၊ တောရိုင်းတိရစ္ဆာန်များ၊ မယုရငှက်၊ ဟင်္သာ၊ ကြက်နှင့် သံ၏ ခိုင်မာမှုမှ သင်ယူသင့်သည်။

Word by Word

• काककोकिलभृङ्गाणाम्: of crows, cuckoos, and bees
• काककोकिलभृङ्गाणाम्: Adhikaraṇa/Viṣaya (विषय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काक + कोकिल + भृङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः: काक-कोकिल-भृङ्ग (इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः), षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/सम्बन्ध), बहुवचन

• मृगव्यालशिखण्डिनाम्: of deer, beasts of prey, and peacocks
• मृगव्यालशिखण्डिनाम्: Adhikaraṇa/Viṣaya (विषय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृग + व्याल + शिखण्डिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः: मृग-व्याल-शिखण्डिन् (इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः), षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• हंसकुक्कुटलोहानाम्: of swans, cocks, and iron
• हंसकुक्कुटलोहानाम्: Adhikaraṇa/Viṣaya (विषय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हंस + कुक्कुट + लोह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः: हंस-कुक्कुट-लोह (इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः), षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• शिक्षेत: should learn
• शिक्षेत: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √शिक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• चरितम्: conduct/behavior
• चरितम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: carita (प्रातिपदिक; √चर् + क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक (past participial noun), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• नृपः: the king
• नृपः: Kartr̥ (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speakers

• Didactic narrator within rājadharma teaching (frame-speaker not specified in the excerpt)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Rājadharma
• Observation of nature
• Practical ethics

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse recommends ‘learning from the world’: rulers should cultivate situational intelligence by observing diverse temperaments—sweet speech, vigilance, industriousness, caution, power, display, discernment, alertness, and firmness.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Didactic rājadharma material; not a direct instance of sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita.

What is the esoteric significance?

The menagerie functions as a symbolic catalog of faculties: speech (kokila), opportunism/vigilance (kāka), disciplined labor (bhṛṅga), prudence (mṛga), force (vyāla), majesty (śikhaṇḍin), discrimination (haṃsa), readiness (kukkuṭa), and unbending resolve (loha).