Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 48, Shloka 19

Adhyaya 48 — The Emanation of Beings from Brahma: Night, Day, Twilight, and the Orders of Creation

Sanskrit

तदन्धकारे क्षुत्क्षामानसृजद् भगवानजः ।

विरूपान् श्मश्रुलानत्तुमारब्धास्ते च तां तनुम् ॥

Transliteration

tad-andhakāre kṣut-kṣāmān asṛjad bhagavān ajaḥ / virūpān śmaśrulān attum ārabdhās te ca tāṃ tanum

Translation

ထိုအမှောင်ထဲတွင် မမွေးဖွားသေးသော အဇ (Aja) သည် ဆာလောင်မှုကြောင့် ပျက်ယွင်းနွမ်းနယ်သော သတ္တဝါများကို ဖန်ဆင်း하였다—ရုပ်ပုံပျက်စီး၍ မုတ်ဆိတ်ရှိကြပြီး၊ ထိုကိုယ်တော်ကို စားသောက်ရန် စတင်ကြသည်။

Word by Word

• तत्: in that
• तत्: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; अन्धकारे इति विशेषण (तस्मिन्)

• अन्धकारे: darkness
• अन्धकारे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्धकार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• क्षुत्-क्षामान्: emaciated by hunger
• क्षुत्-क्षामान्: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षुत् (प्रातिपदिक) + क्षाम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: क्षुत्-क्षाम (कर्मधारय; ‘hunger-wasted’), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन; (विरूपान् इत्यादि प्राणिनः) इति विशेषण

• असृजत्: created/emitted
• असृजत्: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सृज् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; धातु: सृज् (to create/emit)

• भगवान्: the Blessed Lord
• भगवान्: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भगवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• अजः: the Unborn (Brahmā)
• अजः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; भगवान् इति समानाधिकरण

• विरूपान्: misshapen
• विरूपान्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विरूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन

• श्मश्रुलान्: bearded
• श्मश्रुलान्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्मश्रुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन

• अत्तुम्: to eat
• अत्तुम्: Prayojana (प्रयोजन/Infinitive purpose)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अद् (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त (infinitive), धातु: अद् (to eat), अर्थ: to eat

• आरब्धाः: having begun
• आरब्धाः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ + रभ् (धातु)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; (ते) इति कर्तृवाचक: having begun/started

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha/Conjunction (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक निपात (conjunction), अव्यय

• ताम्: that
• ताम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; तनुम् इति विशेषण

• तनुम्: body/form
• तनुम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तनु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

Speakers

• Narrative voice

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "bhaya", "secondaryRasa": "bibhatsa", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Brahmā (Aja)

Key Themes

• Sarga
• Origins of certain beings
• Tamas/rajas imagery
• Hunger motif

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

When desire (hunger) operates in darkness (ignorance), it produces distorted tendencies that ‘consume’ their very basis—an ethical warning about unchecked appetites.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Sarga: generation of classes of beings from a rajas-tamas condition.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘devouring of the body’ can symbolize self-consuming cravings: tamasic drives attempt to appropriate the very ‘form’ of consciousness that generated them.