Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 57, Shloka 58

Adhyaya 57 — The Ninefold Divisions of Bharata: Mountains, Rivers, and Peoples

Sanskrit

कृतत्रेतादिकश्चात्र चतुर्युगकृतो विधिः । एतत्तु भारतं वर्षं चतुः संस्थानसंस्थितम् ॥

Transliteration

kṛtatretādikaś cātra caturyugakṛto vidhiḥ | etat tu bhārataṃ varṣaṃ catuḥ saṃsthānasaṃsthitam ||

Translation

ဤနေရာ၌ ကෘတ၊ တ్రေတာ နှင့် အခြား ယုဂများအပေါ် သက်ဆိုင်သော စည်းမျဉ်းအမိန့်ကို ယုဂလေးပါး၏ စံနည်းအဖြစ် တည်ထောင်ထားသည်။ ထို့ပြင် ဤ ဘာရတဝရ္ଷကိုလည်း စံသ္ထာန လေးမျိုးဖြင့် စီမံသတ်မှတ်ထားသည်။

Word by Word

• कृतत्रेतादिकः: beginning with Kṛta and Tretā (yugas)
• कृतत्रेतादिकः: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत-त्रेता-आदिक (प्रातिपदिक; कृत + त्रेता + आदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय

• अत्र: here
• अत्र: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देश/प्रकरण-अव्यय (adverb: ‘here/in this context’)

• चतुर्युगकृतः: made of four yugas / consisting of four ages
• चतुर्युगकृतः: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्-युग-कृत (प्रातिपदिक; चतुर् + युग + कृत)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• विधिः: the rule/arrangement
• विधिः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सर्वनाम (pronoun)

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle; contrast/emphasis)

• भारतं: Bhārata (Indian)
• भारतं: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भारत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• वर्षम्: region/land (varṣa)
• वर्षम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• चतुः: four
• चतुः: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्या-रूप (numeral used indeclinably here); ‘four’

• संस्थानसंस्थितम्: situated/arranged in (four) formations
• संस्थानसंस्थितम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संस्थान-संस्थित (प्रातिपदिक; संस्थान + संस्थित)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

Speakers

• Frame dialogue context; speaker not explicit in given excerpt

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Yugas
• Cosmology
• Sacred geography
• Bhāratavarṣa

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Bhārata is presented as the stage where time’s moral rhythms (yuga-dharma) are operative; human life is shaped by cyclic conditions, yet remains accountable to vidhi (normative order).

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

This aligns with manvantara/yuga-related cosmological structuring, supporting the Purāṇic account of time (kāla) and its dharmic modulation.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘fourfold configuration’ can be read as a symbolic ordering of space mirroring the fourfold ordering of time (four yugas), implying a correspondence between geography and temporality.