Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 47, Shloka 31

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

Sanskrit

प्रथमो महतः सर्गो विज्ञेयो ब्रह्मणस्तु सः ।

तन्मात्राणां द्वितीयस्तु भूतसर्गः स उच्यते ॥

Transliteration

prathamo mahataḥ sargo vijñeyo brahmaṇastu saḥ / tanmātrāṇāṃ dvitīyastu bhūtasargaḥ sa ucyate

Translation

ပထမ ဖန်ဆင်းခြင်းသည် Mahat (မဟတ်—အကြီးမားဆုံး သဘောတရား) ၏ ဖန်ဆင်းခြင်းဖြစ်ပြီး၊ ၎င်းကို ဘြဟ္မာ (Brahmā) နှင့် ဆိုင်သောအရာဟု နားလည်ရမည်။ ဒုတိယ ဖန်ဆင်းခြင်းသည် tanmātra များ၏ ဖန်ဆင်းခြင်းဖြစ်၍၊ ၎င်းကို bhūta-sarga (ဓာတ်များ၏ ဖန်ဆင်းခြင်း) ဟု ခေါ်သည်။

Word by Word

• prathamaḥ: first
• prathamaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prathama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• mahataḥ: of Mahat (the Great principle)
• mahataḥ: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठी/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (सांख्ये ‘महत्’), षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• sargaḥ: creation
• sargaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• vijñeyaḥ: is to be understood (as)
• vijñeyaḥ: Vidheyaviśeṣaṇa (विधेयविशेषण/Predicate adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-jñā (धातु) + ya (कृत्)
• Form: य-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (gerundive: ‘to be known’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• brahmaṇaḥ: of Brahman; of Brahmā
• brahmaṇaḥ: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठी/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• tu: but; indeed
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विरोध/विशेषार्थक (adversative/emphatic particle)

• saḥ: that
• saḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• tanmātrāṇām: of the tanmātras (subtle elements)
• tanmātrāṇām: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठी/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tanmātrā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; समास: तत् + मात्रा (तत्पुरुष: ‘तस्य मात्रा’ → subtle element)

• dvitīyaḥ: second
• dvitīyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvitīya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• tu: indeed
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विशेषार्थक (particle)

• bhūtasargaḥ: creation of the elements/beings
• bhūtasargaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūta-sarga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समास: भूतानां सर्गः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• saḥ: that
• saḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• ucyate: is said; is called
• ucyate: Kriyā (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार, आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; कर्मणि (passive)

Speakers

• Cosmological narration within the Markandeya Purana’s teaching context (speaker not specified in the provided excerpt)

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Brahmā

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Sāṃkhya categories (mahat, tanmātra, bhūta)
• Pañcalakṣaṇa: Sarga

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Creation is presented as a graded unfolding from intelligence (mahat) to subtle potentials (tanmātras) and then to elemental manifestation—encouraging a worldview where mind/intellect is primary in the chain of experience.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Directly Sarga: it enumerates foundational stages of cosmic emanation (prākṛta evolution).

What is the esoteric significance?

Mahat signifies cosmic discernment; tanmātras are archetypal sensory potentials. The sequence can be read inwardly as the descent from pure knowing into sense-structured reality.