Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 34, Shloka 17

Adhyaya 34 — Madālāsā’s Instruction on Sadācāra (Householder Conduct, Purity, and Daily Rites)

Sanskrit

ब्राह्मे मुहूर्ते बुध्येत धर्मार्थौ चापि चिन्तयेत् ।

समुत्थाय तथाचम्य प्राङ्मुखो नियतः शुचिः ॥

Transliteration

brāhme muhūrte budhyeta dharmārthau cāpi cintayet | samutthāya tathācamya prāṅmukho niyataḥ śuciḥ ||

Translation

လူသည် ဗြဟ္မမုဟူရတ (brāhma-muhūrta) တွင် နိုးထ၍ ဓမ္မနှင့် အဓ္ဓကို စဉ်းစားသင့်သည်။ ထို့နောက် ထ၍ သန့်စင်ရန် ရေကို သောက်သုံးခြင်း (ācamanam) ပြုကာ၊ စည်းကမ်းရှိ၍ သန့်ရှင်းကာ အရှေ့ဘက်သို့ မျက်နှာမူရမည်။

Word by Word

• ब्राह्मे: in the brāhma (sacred)
• ब्राह्मे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: brāhma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; विशेषण (of muhūrte)

• मुहूर्ते: at the muhūrta (time period)
• मुहूर्ते: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muhūrta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• बुध्येत: should awaken / should become aware
• बुध्येत: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √budh (बुध् धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (potential/optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• धर्म-अर्थौ: dharma and artha
• धर्म-अर्थौ: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharma (प्रातिपदिक) + artha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, द्विवचन; समासः—द्वन्द्वः (धर्मश्च अर्थश्च)

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

• अपि: also
• अपि: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय/अपि-निपात

• चिन्तयेत्: should contemplate
• चिन्तयेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √cint (चिन्त् धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• समुत्थाय: having risen
• समुत्थाय: Purvakala (पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sam-ud-√sthā (स्था धातु) + ल्यप् → samutthāya (कृदन्त-अव्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त-अव्यय (ल्यप्/क्त्वान्त), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया (having risen)

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

• आचम्य: having performed ācamana
• आचम्य: Purvakala (पूर्वकाल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ā-√cam (चम् धातु) + ल्यप् → ācāmya (कृदन्त-अव्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त-अव्यय (ल्यप्/क्त्वान्त), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया (having sipped/purified by sipping water)

• प्राङ्मुखः: facing east
• प्राङ्मुखः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prāṅ (अव्यय/दिक्शब्द) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (प्राङ् = पूर्वदिक्, तस्या मुखम्/मुखः)

• नियतः: disciplined, restrained
• नियतः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: niyata (प्रातिपदिक; √yam यम् with ni- + क्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तृ-विशेषण (disciplined/controlled)

• शुचिः: pure, clean
• शुचिः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śuci (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तृ-विशेषण

Speakers

• Didactic voice; daily sādhana/ācāra instruction

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dinacaryā (daily regimen)
• Purity rites
• Gṛhastha discipline
• Dharma and artha mindfulness

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Daily life is sacralized: rising early, cultivating purity, and beginning the day with reflection on duty and livelihood is presented as the foundation of sustained ethical living.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

A practical dharma passage (ācāra/dinacaryā), not pañcalakṣaṇa.

What is the esoteric significance?

Brahma-muhūrta is a liminal time of heightened sattva; ‘facing east’ and ‘śuci’ suggest aligning the body-mind with cosmic order (light, clarity) before engaging the world.