Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 54, Shloka 30

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

Sanskrit

सा परिक्रम्य वै मेरुं जम्बूमूलं पुनर्नदी ।

विशति द्विजशार्दूल पीयमाना जनैश्च तैः ॥

Transliteration

sā parikramya vai meruṁ jambū-mūlaṁ punar nadī | viśati dvijaśārdūla pīyamānā janaiś ca taiḥ ||

Translation

ထိုမြစ်သည် မေရုတောင်ကို ပတ်လည်လှည့်ကာ ထပ်မံ၍ ဇမ္ဗူပင်၏ အမြစ်သို့ ပြန်ရောက်ပြီး ထိုပင်အတွင်းသို့ ဝင်သွား၏၊ အို ဒွိဇတို့အနက် ကျားကဲ့သို့ ရဲရင့်သူ—ထိုနေရာရှိ သတ္တဝါတို့က ၎င်းကို သောက်သုံးကြ၏။

Word by Word

• सा: she (that river)
• सा: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• परिक्रम्य: having circumambulated
• परिक्रम्य: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: परि-क्रम् (धातु) + ल्यप् (कृदन्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: ल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive) = ‘having gone around’

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/वाक्यसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), emphasis

• मेरुम्: Meru
• मेरुम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मेरु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन

• जम्बू-मूलम्: the root of the Jambu (tree)
• जम्बू-मूलम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जम्बू (प्रातिपदिक) + मूल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (जम्ब्वाः मूलम्)

• पुनः: again/then
• पुनः: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• नदी: the river
• नदी: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नदी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• विशति: enters
• विशति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: विश् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन

• द्विज-शार्दूल: O tiger among the twice-born
• द्विज-शार्दूल: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक) + शार्दूल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (द्विजः शार्दूल इव)

• पीयमाना: being drunk
• पीयमाना: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पा (धातु) + यक् (कर्मणि) + शानच् (कृदन्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; वर्तमानकाले कर्मणि-प्रयोगे शानच्-प्रत्ययान्त (present passive participle)

• जनैः: by people
• जनैः: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), बहुवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• तैः: by those (people)
• तैः: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

Speakers

• Cosmography narration within Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (speaker not explicit in excerpt)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Sacred Rivers
• Cyclic Motifs

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The river’s circling and return evokes cyclic renewal: resources arise, circulate, sustain beings, and return to their source—an implicit ethic of reciprocity rather than extraction.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Sthāna: river-courses and features of the cosmic landscape.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘circling Meru’ can symbolize prāṇa moving around the inner axis (suṣumṇā/center), then returning to the source—an image of reintegration.