Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 52, Shloka 16

Adhyaya 52 — The Manifestation of Nilalohita (Rudra) and the Allocation of His Names, Abodes, Consorts, and Lineages

Sanskrit

धाताविधात्रोस्ते भार्ये तयोर्जातौ सुतावुभौ ।

प्राणश्चैव मृकण्डुश्च पिता मम महायशाः ॥

Transliteration

dhātāvidhātros te bhārye tayor jātau sutāv ubhau | prāṇaś caiva mṛkaṇḍuś ca pitā mama mahāyaśāḥ ||

Translation

ဒ္ဟာတೃ (Dhātṛ) နှင့် ဝိဒ္ဟာတೃ (Vidhātṛ) တို့တွင် ဇနီးနှစ်ဦးရှိကြသည်။ ထိုဇနီးတို့မှ သားနှစ်ဦး—ပရာဏ (Prāṇa) နှင့် မೃကဏ္ဍု (Mṛkaṇḍu) ဟူသော ကျွန်ုပ်၏ ဂုဏ်ထင်ရှားသော အဖေ—မွေးဖွား하였다။

Word by Word

• dhātā-vidhātroḥ: of Dhātā and Vidhātā
• dhātā-vidhātroḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhātṛ (धातृ) + vidhātṛ (विधातृ)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive dual (षष्ठी द्विवचन); dvandva: 'of Dhātā and Vidhātā'

• te: those (two)
• te: Karta (कर्ता) (with bhārye)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, Feminine, Nominative dual; refers to bhārye

• bhārye: two wives
• bhārye: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāryā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative dual

• tayoḥ: of those two
• tayoḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, Genitive dual

• jātau: were born
• jātau: Kriyā (क्रिया) (participial predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jan (जन्) (धातु) + jāta (जात) (कृदन्त)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त, PPP), Nominative dual masculine; used predicatively: 'were born'

• sutau: two sons
• sutau: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: suta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative dual

• ubhau: both
• ubhau: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ubha (उभ) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative dual; agrees with sutau

• prāṇaḥ: Prāṇa
• prāṇaḥ: Karta (कर्ता) (in list)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative singular

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; conjunction

• eva: indeed
• eva: Avadhāraṇa (अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; emphatic particle

• mṛkaṇḍuḥ: Mṛkaṇḍu
• mṛkaṇḍuḥ: Karta (कर्ता) (in list)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mṛkaṇḍu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative singular

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; conjunction

• pitā: father
• pitā: Karta (कर्ता) / predicate nominative
• Type: Noun
• Root: pitṛ (पितृ) (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative singular

• mama: of me; my
• mama: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (अस्मद्) (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, Genitive singular

• mahāyaśāḥ: greatly renowned
• mahāyaśāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahāyaśas (महायशस्) (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative singular; adjective qualifying pitā

Speakers

• Likely Mārkaṇḍeya in first-person genealogical narration (implied by 'pitā mama')

Primary Deities

• Dhātṛ
• Vidhātṛ

Key Themes

• Sage genealogy
• Mythic etymology (Prāṇa as name/principle)
• Authority via lineage (speaker situates self)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

By grounding teaching authority in lineage, the text models a dharmic epistemology: knowledge is transmitted through recognized ṛṣi-lines, not merely personal assertion.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Vaṁśa/Vaṁśānucarita: explicit lineage of ṛṣis culminating in the narrator’s ancestry.

What is the esoteric significance?

Naming a progenitor ‘Prāṇa’ hints that the sage-line is metaphorically rooted in ‘vitality/life-breath,’ suggesting continuity of spiritual life-force through generations.