Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 30, Shloka 15

Adhyaya 30 — Madālasā’s Instruction on Household Duties and Naimittika–Śrāddha Rites

Sanskrit

तं कथ्यमानमेकाग्रो वदन्त्याऽ मे निशामय ।

तिलगन्धोदकैर्युक्तं तत्र पात्रचतुष्टयम् ॥

Transliteration

taṃ kathyamānam ekāgro vadantyā me niśāmaya |

tilagandhodakair yuktaṃ tatra pātracatuṣṭayam ||

Translation

ငါရှင်းပြမည်ကို သေချာစွာ နားထောင်လော့။ ထိုနေရာတွင် လှူပစ္စည်းအိုးခွက် လေးလုံးကို စီစဉ်ထားပြီး နှမ်း (tila) နှင့် အနံ့သာရေ ပါဝင်အောင် ပြင်ဆင်ရမည်။

Word by Word

• tam: that (instruction/thing)
• tam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Accusative (द्वितीया), Singular; object pronoun

• kathyamānam: being narrated
• kathyamānam: Karma-viśeṣaṇa (कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kath (धातु)
• Form: Present passive participle (शानच्/मान-प्रत्यय), Accusative, Singular, Masculine/Neuter; ‘being told/being described’ qualifying tam

• eka-agraḥ: one-pointed (in attention)
• eka-agraḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + agra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular; कर्मधारय: ekaṃ agraṃ yasya = one-pointed/attentive; used as predicate/subject qualifier

• vadantyāḥ: of the speaking (woman)
• vadantyāḥ: Sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vad (धातु)
• Form: Present active participle (शतृ), Feminine, Genitive (षष्ठी), Singular; ‘of (her) who is speaking’

• me: my/to me
• me: Sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Genitive (षष्ठी), Singular; enclitic pronoun

• niśāmaya: listen/attend
• niśāmaya: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-śam (धातु)
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular; parasmaipada

• tila-gandha-udakaiḥ: with sesame-scented waters
• tila-gandha-udakaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tila (प्रातिपदिक) + gandha (प्रातिपदिक) + udaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental (तृतीया), Plural; तत्पुरुष (descriptive): ‘water with sesame-fragrance’ (sesame-scented water)

• yuktam: provided/combined
• yuktam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yuj (धातु)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Nominative, Singular; agrees with pātracatuṣṭayam

• tatra: there/in that (rite)
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (देशवाचक-अव्यय)

• pātra-catuṣṭayam: a set of four vessels
• pātra-catuṣṭayam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pātra (प्रातिपदिक) + catuṣṭaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular; तत्पुरुष: pātrāṇāṃ catuṣṭayam = set of four vessels

Speakers

• Didactic ritual instruction (speaker not explicit in excerpt)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Pitri Puja
• Śrāddha-vidhi
• Ritual materials

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Ritual care is presented as attentive, orderly preparation—mindfulness (ekāgratā) is treated as integral to correct action (kriyā).

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Ancillary dharma/ācāra instruction.

What is the esoteric significance?

Sesame and scented water function as purifiers and ‘carriers’ of intention; the four vessels anticipate differentiated recipients (pitṛ-triad plus the preta), mapping subtle relationships into concrete ritual form.