Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 50, Shloka 88

Adhyaya 50 — Mind-Born Progeny, Svayambhuva Manu’s Lineage, and Brahmā’s Ordinance to Duḥsaha (Alakṣmī’s Retinue)

Sanskrit

लङ्घ्यन्ते यत्र धान्यानि पक्वापक्वानि वेश्मनि ।

तद्वच्छास्त्राणि तत्र त्वं यथेष्टं चर दुःसह ॥

Transliteration

laṅghyante yatra dhānyāni pakvāpakvāni veśmani | tadvac chāstrāṇi tatra tvaṃ yatheṣṭaṃ cara duḥsaha ||

Translation

အိမ်အတွင်း၌ ချက်ပြီးနှင့် မချက်ရသေးသော စပါးနှံတို့ကို ခြေဖြင့် ကျော်နင်းကြပြီး၊ ထို့အတူ ကျမ်းစာတို့ကိုလည်း မလေးစားဘဲ ဆက်ဆံရာ၌—အို မခံနိုင်သူ၊ ထိုနေရာ၌ သင် စိတ်ကြိုက် လှည့်လည်နိုင်၏။

Word by Word

• लङ्घ्यन्ते: are stepped over, are crossed
• लङ्घ्यन्ते: क्रिया (Kriyā/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लङ्घ् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present/वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive sense): ‘are stepped over/are crossed’

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (relative adverb: ‘where’)

• धान्यानि: grains
• धान्यानि: कर्ता (Karta/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धान्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन

• पक्व-अपक्वानि: ripe and unripe
• पक्व-अपक्वानि: विशेषण (Viśeṣaṇa/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पक्व (प्रातिपदिक) + अपक्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व; धान्यानि इति विशेषणम्

• वेश्मनि: in the house
• वेश्मनि: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेश्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन

• तद्वत्: likewise
• तद्वत्: क्रियाविशेषण (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद्वत् (अव्यय/तद्धित-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उपमानार्थक-अव्यय (indeclinable: ‘likewise’)

• शास्त्राणि: weapons
• शास्त्राणि: कर्म (Karma/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शस्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), बहुवचन; here ‘weapons/tools’

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: ‘there’)

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: कर्ता (Karta/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• यथा-इष्टम्: as you wish
• यथा-इष्टम्: क्रियाविशेषण (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय) + इष्ट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; क्रियाविशेषणम् (adverbial): ‘as desired/at will’

• चर: move about, roam
• चर: क्रिया (Kriyā/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: चर् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (imperative/आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• दुःसह: O hard-to-endure one! (formidable one)
• दुःसह: सम्बोधन (Sambodhana/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःसह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचन; vocative epithet

Speakers

• Didactic voice addressing a Yakṣa/inauspicious being (‘duḥsaha’)

Shakti Aspects

• Alakṣmī implied; Lakṣmī withdraws where anna and śāstra are disrespected

Key Themes

• Anna-satkara (respect for food)
• Śāstra-maryādā (respect for scripture)
• Dharma
• Auspiciousness

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Disrespect toward food (anna) and sacred knowledge (śāstra) is portrayed as a direct cause of misfortune. Reverence for sustenance and learning is central to household dharma.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Ancillary dharma instruction rather than the five defining Purāṇic narrative categories.

What is the esoteric significance?

Anna represents life-force; śāstra represents guiding intelligence. Stepping over them symbolizes trampling prāṇa and buddhi—thereby granting free movement to tamasic forces (the ‘duḥsaha’).