Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 54, Shloka 13

Adhyaya 54 — Cosmography of Jambudvipa: Continents, Oceans, Varshas, and Mount Meru

Sanskrit

वेद्यर्धे दक्षिणे त्रीणि त्रीणि वर्षाणि चोत्तरे ।

इलावृतं तयोर्मध्ये चन्द्रार्धाकारवत् स्थितम् ॥

Transliteration

vedyardhe dakṣime trīṇi trīṇi varṣāṇi cottare | ilāvṛtaṃ tayor madhye candrārdhākāravat sthitam ||

Translation

(ကောစ्मिक) ယဇ္ဉပလက်ဖောင်း၏ တောင်ပိုင်းတစ်ဝက်တွင် ဒေသ သုံးခုရှိပြီး၊ မြောက်ပိုင်းတစ်ဝက်တွင်လည်း ဒေသ သုံးခုရှိသည်။ ၎င်းတို့အကြားတွင် အီလာဝෘတ (Ilāvṛta) သည် လဝက်ပုံသဏ္ဌာန်ကဲ့သို့ တည်ရှိနေသည်။

Word by Word

• vedi-ardhe: in the southern half (of the vedi-like division)
• vedi-ardhe: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vedi (प्रातिपदिक) + ardha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (‘वेध्याः/वेदेः अर्धे’ = in the half of the altar/vedi)

• dakṣiṇe: in the south
• dakṣiṇe: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dakṣiṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (agreeing with vedi-ardhe)

• trīṇi: three
• trīṇi: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्; संख्याविशेषणम्

• trīṇi: three
• trīṇi: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्; संख्याविशेषणम्

• varṣāṇi: regions (varṣas)
• varṣāṇi: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; समुच्चयार्थक-निपातः

• uttare: in the north
• uttare: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: uttara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (locative: ‘in the north’)

• ilā-vṛtam: Ilāvṛta (the central region)
• ilā-vṛtam: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ilā (प्रातिपदिक) + vṛta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (इलया आवृतम् = ‘Ilā-covered’, proper name Ilāvṛta)

• tayoḥ: of those two (sides)
• tayoḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे/नपुंसकलिङ्गे, षष्ठी विभक्तिः (Genitive/6th), द्विवचनम्; सर्वनाम

• madhye: in the middle
• madhye: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: madhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययप्रयोगः; ‘मध्ये’ = in the middle (locative adverbial)

• candra-ardha-ākāra-vat: like a half-moon in shape
• candra-ardha-ākāra-vat: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Adverbial qualifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: candra (प्रातिपदिक) + ardha (प्रातिपदिक) + ākāra (प्रातिपदिक) + -vat (वतुप्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; वत्-प्रत्ययान्त-उपमानवाचक (similative adverb) ‘like the shape of a half-moon’

• sthitam: situated
• sthitam: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sthā (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्तः—क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनम्; ‘स्थित’ = situated

Speakers

• Unnamed Purāṇic narrator describing cosmic geography (frame-speakers not explicit in this excerpt)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Sacred Geography
• Ilavrita
• Ritual-Cosmology Correspondence

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

By mapping the world onto a ‘vedi’ (altar), the verse links cosmos and ritual: human worship is presented as participation in cosmic order.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Primarily 'Sthāna' (world-structure), with a ritual-cosmology overlay typical of Purāṇic exposition.

What is the esoteric significance?

Ilāvṛta as the ‘middle’ suggests a hidden central realm—often interpreted as an inner sanctum of consciousness, not merely a physical geography.