Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 34, Shloka 24

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

Sanskrit

नाप्सु मूत्रं पुरीषं वा मैथुनं वा समाचरेत् ।

नाधितिष्ठेच्छकृन्मूत्रकेशभस्मकपालिकाः ॥

Transliteration

nāpsu mūtraṃ purīṣaṃ vā maithunaṃ vā samācaret |

nādhitiṣṭhecchakṛnmūtrakeśabhasmakapālikāḥ ||

Translation

ရေထဲတွင် ဆီးသွားခြင်း၊ ဝမ်းချခြင်း မပြုရ၊ ထိုနေရာ၌ လိင်ဆက်ဆံခြင်းလည်း မပြုရ။ မစင်၊ ဆီး၊ ဆံပင်၊ ပြာ၊ အိုးကွဲအပိုင်းအစတို့ကို မနင်းရ။

Word by Word

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

• अप्सु: in water
• अप्सु: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अप् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/अधिकरण), बहुवचन; (waters)

• मूत्रम्: urine
• मूत्रम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मूत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• पुरीषम्: feces
• पुरीषम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरीष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्यय (disjunctive particle: or)

• मैथुनम्: sexual intercourse
• मैथुनम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मैथुन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्प-अव्यय

• समाचरेत्: should do/perform
• समाचरेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + चर् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

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

• अधितिष्ठेत्: should step on/stand upon
• अधितिष्ठेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अधि + स्था (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• शकृत्: feces
• शकृत्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शकृत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (समासाङ्ग)

• मूत्र: urine
• मूत्र: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मूत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (समासाङ्ग)

• केश: hair
• केश: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: केश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (समासाङ्ग)

• भस्म: ashes
• भस्म: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भस्मन्/भस्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (समासाङ्ग)

• कपालिकाः: (things like) feces, urine, hair, ashes, and skullsherds
• कपालिकाः: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कपालिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; समाहार-द्वन्द्व/समुच्चयार्थ (list-compound) with prior members शकृत्-मूत्र-केश-भस्म

Speakers

• Unspecified in provided excerpt; purity law instruction

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Śauca
• Protection of water sources
• Restraint

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Water is treated as sacred and communal; polluting it or behaving licentiously in it violates both cleanliness and reverence.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Ācāra-dharma; not pancalakṣaṇa.

What is the esoteric significance?

Water symbolizes purity and life; guarding it outwardly mirrors guarding inner ‘streams’ of thought from defilement.