Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 51, Shloka 15

Adhyaya 51 — Yaksha Injunctions: Graha-Children and Female Spirits Causing Domestic and Ritual Disruptions

Sanskrit

रक्षोघ्नमन्त्रजप्यैश्च रक्षाṃ कुर्वोत तत्त्ववित् ।

अन्यश्चानिलवन्नृणामङ्गेषु स्फुरणोदितम् ॥

Transliteration

rakṣoghnamantra-japyaiś ca rakṣāṃ kurvota tattvavit | anyaś cānila-van nṛṇām aṅgeṣu sphuraṇoditam ||

Translation

အန္တရာယ်ဖြစ်စေသော သတ္တဝါတို့ကို ဖျက်ဆီးသော မန္တရများကို ရွတ်ဆိုခြင်းဖြင့် သဘောတရားကို သိသူသည် ကာကွယ်ရေးကို ဆောင်ရွက်ရမည်။ အခြားနိမိတ်တစ်ရပ်သည် လေကဲ့သို့ ပေါ်လာသည်—လူတို့၏ ကိုယ်အင်္ဂါများတွင် တုန်ခါမှုများ ပေါ်ထွက်လာခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။

Word by Word

• रक्षोघ्नमन्त्रजप्यैः: by recitations of demon-slaying mantras
• रक्षोघ्नमन्त्रजप्यैः: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रक्षस् (प्रातिपदिक) + घ्न (प्रातिपदिक) + मन्त्र (प्रातिपदिक) + जप्य (प्रातिपदिक; √जप् + यत्/ण्यत् ‘to be muttered’)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषसमासः—‘रक्षोघ्नानां मन्त्राणां जप्यैः’ (by the mutterings/recitations of demon-slaying mantras)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चयार्थक निपात

• रक्षाम्: protection
• रक्षाम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रक्षा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• कुर्वोत: let (him) do; should perform
• कुर्वोत: Vidhi (आज्ञा/विधि)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; वैदिक/पुराणप्रयोगे ‘कुर्वोत’ = ‘करोतु’

• तत्त्ववित्: the knower of truth
• तत्त्ववित्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तत्त्व (प्रातिपदिक) + विद् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘knower’)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः—‘तत्त्वं वेत्ति इति’ (knower of truth)

• अन्यः: another (one)
• अन्यः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चयार्थक निपात

• अनिलवत्: like the wind
• अनिलवत्: Prakāra (प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अनिल (प्रातिपदिक) + वत् (तद्धित)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः; उपमानवाचक—‘like the wind’ (क्रियाविशेषण/उपमा)

• नृणाम्: of men/people
• नृणाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन

• अङ्गेषु: in the limbs
• अङ्गेषु: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), बहुवचन

• स्फुरणोदितम्: arisen from twitching (omen)
• स्फुरणोदितम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्फुरण (प्रातिपदिक) + उदित (प्रातिपदिक; √उद्/√उद् ‘arisen’, क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः—‘स्फुरणेन उदितम्’ (arisen due to twitching/pulsation)

Speakers

• Not explicit; instructional voice describing nimittas and remedies.

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Mantra
• Protective rites
• Bodily omens
• Nimitta interpretation

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

When subtle disturbances appear (internal agitation signaled as twitching), dharma recommends restraint and protective spiritual practice rather than impulsive action—mantra-japa is presented as a stabilizing remedy.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Ancillary dharma/ritual instruction; outside the five-fold purāṇic definition.

What is the esoteric significance?

Twitching ‘like wind’ points to prāṇic disturbance. Rakṣā-mantras are a method to re-harmonize prāṇa and mind, framing ‘evil’ as both external negativity and internal turbulence.