Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 34, Shloka 23

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

Sanskrit

नग्नां परस्त्रियां नेक्षेन्न पश्येदात्मनः सकृत् ।

उदक्यादर्शनं स्पर्शो वर्ज्यं सम्भाषणं तथा ॥

Transliteration

nagnāṃ parastriyaṃ nekṣenna paśyedātmanaḥ sakṛt |

udakyā darśanaṃ sparśo varjyaṃ sambhāṣaṇaṃ tathā ||

Translation

အခြားသူ၏ မိန်းမကို အဝတ်မဝတ်သည့်အခါ မကြည့်ရ၊ ကိုယ့်အဝတ်မဝတ်သည့်ကိုလည်း မကြည့်ရ။ ရာသီလာနေသော မိန်းမနှင့် တွေ့မြင်ခြင်း၊ ထိတွေ့ခြင်း၊ စကားပြောခြင်းတို့ကို ရှောင်ကြဉ်ရ။

Word by Word

• नग्नाम्: naked (woman)
• नग्नाम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नग्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/कर्म), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifier)

• पर-स्त्रियम्: another man’s wife/woman
• पर-स्त्रियम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक) + स्त्री (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (other’s woman)

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negative particle)

• ईक्षेत्: should look at
• ईक्षेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ईक्ष् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• न: not
• न: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय

• पश्येत्: should see
• पश्येत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पश् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• आत्मनः: of oneself
• आत्मनः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive/सम्बन्ध), एकवचन

• सकृत्: even once
• सकृत्: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सकृत् (अव्यय)
• Form: काल/परिमाण-अव्यय (adverb: once)

• उदक्याः: of a menstruating woman
• उदक्याः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उदक्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; (menstruating woman)

• दर्शनम्: seeing
• दर्शनम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दर्शन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/कर्ता), एकवचन

• स्पर्शः: touching
• स्पर्शः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्पर्श (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• वर्ज्यम्: to be avoided
• वर्ज्यम्: Vidheyavisheshana (विधेयविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वर्ज्य (कृदन्त; वर्ज् धातु)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मणि-भावे क्तव्यत्/यत्-प्रत्ययार्थ (to be avoided)

• सम्भाषणम्: conversation
• सम्भाषणम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सम् + भाषण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

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

Speakers

• Unspecified in provided excerpt; normative social/purity code

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Brahmacarya (restraint)
• Śauca norms
• Social conduct

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The text promotes restraint of the gaze and boundaries in interaction; it frames purity and self-control as supports for social harmony.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Ācāra-dharma; not pancalakṣaṇa.

What is the esoteric significance?

Control of sight and speech is treated as a subtle tapas; the ‘gaze’ is a conduit of desire, so disciplining it is inner purification.