Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 53, Shloka 4

Adhyaya 53 — Rudrasarga and the Measure of the Manvantaras: Svayambhuva Manu, Priyavrata’s Line, and the Seven Dvipas

Sanskrit

त्रिंशत्कोट्यस्तु संख्याताः सहस्राणि च विंशतिः ।

सप्तषष्टिस्तथान्यानि नियुतानि च संख्यया ॥

Transliteration

triṃśatkoṭyas tu saṃkhyātāḥ sahasrāṇi ca viṃśatiḥ | saptaṣaṣṭis tathānyāni niyutāni ca saṃkhyayā

Translation

၎င်းကို သုံးဆယ်ကုဋေ၊ နှစ်သောင်း၊ ထို့ပြင် ခြောက်ဆယ်ခုနှစ် ထပ်တိုး၍၊ ထို့အပြင် နိယုတ (တစ်သောင်းတစ်စု) များဖြင့်လည်း အရေအတွက်အလိုက် ရေတွက်ကြသည်။ (ဤသည်မှာ ဖော်ပြထားသော မနွန္တရကာလအတိုင်းအတာ၏ အစိတ်အပိုင်းတစ်ရပ် ဖြစ်သည်)။

Word by Word

• triṃśat-koṭyaḥ: thirty crores
• triṃśat-koṭyaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: triṃśat (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + koṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative Plural; 'thirty crores'

• tu: indeed/and
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात) contrast/emphasis

• saṃkhyātāḥ: counted/numbered
• saṃkhyātāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: saṃkhyāta (कृदन्त; सम्+√khyā past participle)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative Plural; agrees with koṭyaḥ

• sahasrāṇi: thousands
• sahasrāṇi: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative Plural

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction

• viṃśatiḥ: twenty
• viṃśatiḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viṃśati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative Singular; number 'twenty' (used appositionally with sahasrāṇi: 'twenty thousand')

• sapta-ṣaṣṭiḥ: sixty-seven
• sapta-ṣaṣṭiḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sapta (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + ṣaṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative Singular; number 'sixty-seven'

• tathā: also
• tathā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle/adverb 'also/likewise'

• anyāni: other
• anyāni: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative Plural; qualifies niyutāni

• niyutāni: ten-thousands (niyutas)
• niyutāni: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: niyuta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative Plural; 'niyuta' = ten-thousand (10,000)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction

• saṃkhyayā: by count/number
• saṃkhyayā: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃkhyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental Singular; 'by number/count'

Speakers

• Mārkaṇḍeya

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Sacred mathematics
• Chronology

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The tradition encodes cosmic time with precision-like enumeration to cultivate reverence for order (niyama) and the vastness within which human action still bears moral weight.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Manvantara: detailed temporal measure (pramāṇa) of a Manu-cycle.

What is the esoteric significance?

Large-number language functions as a contemplative device: the mind is stretched beyond ordinary scales, loosening attachment to immediate gains and losses.