Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 54, Shloka 14

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

Sanskrit

ततः पूर्वेण भद्राश्वं केतुमालञ्च पश्चिमे ।

इलावृतस्य मध्ये तु मेरुः कनकपर्वतः ॥

Transliteration

tataḥ pūrveṇa bhadrāśvaṃ ketumālañ ca paścime | ilāvṛtasya madhye tu meruḥ kanaka-parvataḥ ||

Translation

၎င်း၏ အရှေ့ဘက်တွင် ဘဒြာရှွ (Bhadrāśva) ရှိပြီး၊ အနောက်ဘက်တွင် ကေတုမာလ (Ketumāla) ရှိသည်။ အီလာဝෘတ၏ အလယ်ဗဟိုတွင် မေရု (Meru) ဟူသော ရွှေရောင်တောင်တန်း တည်ရှိသည်။

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then, thereafter
• tataḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Discourse)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; तसिलन्त-क्रियाविशेषणम् (ablatival adverb) ‘thereupon/from that’

• pūrveṇa: to the east
• pūrveṇa: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Directional)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pūrva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-प्रयोगः/तृतीया-एकवचनरूपेण दिशावाचक-अव्ययम्; ‘by the east / on the eastern side’

• bhadrāśvam: Bhadrāśva (region)
• bhadrāśvam: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhadra (प्रातिपदिक) + aśva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया विभक्तिः (Accusative/2nd), एकवचनम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः; (proper name Bhadrāśva-varṣa)

• ketumālam: Ketumāla (region)
• ketumālam: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ketu (प्रातिपदिक) + māla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, द्वितीया विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; समासः—तत्पुरुषः; (proper name Ketumāla-varṣa)

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

• paścime: to the west
• paścime: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Directional)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: paścima (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-प्रयोगः/सप्तमी-एकवचनरूपेण दिशावाचक-अव्ययम्; ‘in the west / on the western side’

• ilā-vṛtasya: of Ilāvṛta
• ilā-vṛtasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ilā-vṛta (प्रातिपदिक; समास-नाम)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, षष्ठी विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; (proper name)

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

• tu: indeed
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; अवधारण/विरोधार्थक-निपातः (particle: but/indeed)

• meruḥ: Meru
• meruḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: meru (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• kanaka-parvataḥ: the golden mountain
• kanaka-parvataḥ: Samānādhikaraṇa (समानाधिकरण/Apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kanaka (प्रातिपदिक) + parvata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; समासः—कर्मधारयः (‘कनकः पर्वतः’ = golden mountain)

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
• Mount Meru
• Varsha divisions

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The centrality of Meru reinforces the idea of a spiritual axis: life gains orientation by recognizing a ‘center’—principle, dharma, or the divine.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

A clear instance of 'Sthāna' (cosmic arrangement and directions).

What is the esoteric significance?

Meru as ‘golden’ suggests purity and luminosity—an inner axis of awakened awareness around which experiences (east/west/north/south) are organized.