Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 47, Shloka 27

Adhyaya 47 — Brahma’s Awakening and the Ninefold Scheme of Creation

Sanskrit

तस्मात्ते दुःखबहुला भूयोभूयश्च कारिणः ।

प्रकाशा बहिरन्तश्च मनुष्याः साधकाश्च ते ॥

Transliteration

tasmāt te duḥkhabahulā bhūyobhūyaś ca kāriṇaḥ /

prakāśā bahir antaś ca manuṣyāḥ sādhakāś ca te ||

Translation

ထို့ကြောင့် သူတို့သည် ဒုက္ခဖြင့် ပြည့်နှက်၍ အလုပ်လုပ်ခြင်းကို ထပ်ခါထပ်ခါ ပြုကြသည်။ သို့သော် အပြင်ပန်းနှင့် အတွင်းစိတ် နှစ်ဖက်လုံးတွင် တောက်ပလင်းလက်ကြသည်။ သူတို့သည် လူသားများဖြစ်၍ အောင်မြင်စွာ ပြီးမြောက်နိုင်သူများ (sādhaka) ဖြစ်ကြသည်။

Word by Word

• tasmāt: therefore, from that
• tasmāt: Hetu/Apādāna (हेतु/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma (Pronoun/सर्वनाम), Puṃliṅga/napuṃsaka usage, Pañcamī vibhakti (Ablative/पञ्चमी), Ekavacana

• te: they
• te: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Bahuvacana

• duḥkha-bahulāḥ: full of suffering
• duḥkha-bahulāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: duḥkha (प्रातिपदिक) + bahula (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa samāsa (तत्पुरुष; ‘abundant in suffering’), Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Bahuvacana

• bhūyaḥ-bhūyaḥ: again and again, repeatedly
• bhūyaḥ-bhūyaḥ: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bhūyas (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya (reduplicated adverb), frequency/intensity (पुनरुक्त-क्रियाविशेषण)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, conjunction

• kāriṇaḥ: doers, agents
• kāriṇaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject; predicate noun)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kārin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā vibhakti (Nominative), Bahuvacana

• prakāśāḥ: luminous
• prakāśāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prakāśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Bahuvacana

• bahir: outwardly
• bahir: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: bahis (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb

• antaḥ: inwardly
• antaḥ: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: antas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, conjunction

• manuṣyāḥ: humans
• manuṣyāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject; apposition to te)
• Type: Noun
• Root: manuṣya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Bahuvacana

• sādhakāḥ: accomplishing, effecting
• sādhakāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sādhaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Bahuvacana; agrees with manuṣyāḥ/te

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, conjunction

• te: they
• te: Karta (कर्ता/Subject; resumptive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Bahuvacana

Speakers

• Narratorial cosmology within the Markandeya Purana’s teaching context (frame-speakers not explicit in these verses)

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Brahmā

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Sarga (Creation)
• Human agency
• Karma (repeated action)
• Suffering and sādhana

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Humans suffer precisely because they are active agents entangled in repeated karma; yet the same agency, paired with inner light, makes liberation and dharmic refinement possible. Suffering becomes the spur for sādhana.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Sarga: culmination in the human class (arvāk-srotas) described as the ‘sādhaka’ creation.

What is the esoteric significance?

The paradox ‘duḥkha + prakāśa’ signals the initiatory nature of human life: pain reveals bondage, light reveals the path, and repeated action becomes transformed into deliberate practice.