Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 46, Shloka 16

Adhyaya 46 — Cosmic Dissolution, the Emergence of Brahma, and the Measures of Time (Yugas, Manvantaras, and Brahma’s Day)

Sanskrit

यथा प्राग्व्यापकः क्षेत्री पालको लावकस्तथा ।

यथा स सञ्ज्ञामायाति ब्रह्मविष्ण्वीशकारिणीम् ॥

Transliteration

yathā prāgvyāpakaḥ kṣetrī pālako lāvakastathā | yathā sa saṃjñām āyāti brahmaviṣṇvīśakāriṇīm ||

Translation

ကွင်း၏ သိသူ (kṣetrin) သည် အစကတည်းက အလုံးစုံပျံ့နှံ့သကဲ့သို့၊ ထိုနည်းတူ ကာကွယ်သူနှင့် ပျက်သိမ်းသူလည်း ဖြစ်သည်—ထို့ကြောင့် သူသည် ဗြဟ္မာ၊ ဗိဿဏု နှင့် ဣဿ (Īśa) တို့၏ အခန်းကဏ္ဍကို ဆောင်ရွက်သော အမည်ခေါ်ဆိုမှုကို ခံယူလာသည်။

Word by Word

• यथा: as/just as
• यथा: सम्बन्ध (Comparative connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (comparative/conjunctive adverb: as/just as)

• प्राक्: before/formerly
• प्राक्: कालाधिकरण (Temporal)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्राक् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: formerly/before)

• व्यापकः: pervading
• व्यापकः: कर्ता (Karta/Predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: व्यापक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण

• क्षेत्री: field-owner/knower of the field
• क्षेत्री: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षेत्री (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; -ईकारान्त

• पालकः: protector
• पालकः: कर्ता (Karta/Apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पालक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्तृवाचक-नाम

• लावकः: cutter/reaper (one who cuts)
• लावकः: कर्ता (Karta/Apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लावक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्तृवाचक-नाम

• तथा: so/thus
• तथा: सम्बन्ध (Correlative connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (correlative adverb: so/thus)

• यथा: as
• यथा: सम्बन्ध (Comparative connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (as/just as)

• सः: he
• सः: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• सञ्ज्ञाम्: designation/name
• सञ्ज्ञाम्: कर्म (Karma/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सञ्ज्ञा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• आयाति: comes to/attains
• आयाति: क्रिया (Verb/Action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ + या (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• ब्रह्मविष्ण्वीशकारिणीम्: (a designation) ‘acting as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Īśa’
• ब्रह्मविष्ण्वीशकारिणीम्: कर्म (Karma/Object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ब्रह्मन् + विष्णु + ईश + कारिणी (प्रातिपदिक-समूह)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (brahma-viṣṇu-īśa-kāriṇī: making/acting as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Īśa)

Speakers

• Not specified in input.

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Brahmā
• Viṣṇu
• Īśa (Rudra/Śiva)

Key Themes

• Role-based manifestation
• Kṣetra–kṣetrajña style terminology
• Divine names and functions

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Names like Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Īśa indicate functions rather than separate ultimate principles; this encourages theological unity while acknowledging diverse modes of worship.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Sarga/Sthiti/Pratisarga are summarized via functional titles (creator–protector–dissolver), serving as a doctrinal bridge across the creation cycle.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘kṣetrin’ language points inward: the same consciousness appears as projection, maintenance, and withdrawal of experience—mirroring waking, continuity, and deep rest.