Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 8, Shloka 121

Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala

Sanskrit

इत्येवं चिन्तयंस् तत्र चण्डालोक्तं पुनः पुनः ।

मलिनो रूक्षसर्वाङ्गः केशवान् गन्धवान् ध्वजी ॥

Transliteration

ity evaṃ cintayaṃs tatra caṇḍāloktaṃ punaḥ punaḥ /

malino rūkṣa-sarvāṅgaḥ keśavān gandhavān dhvajī

Translation

ထိုနေရာ၌ ထိုသို့ စဉ်းစားနေစဉ် caṇḍāla တစ်ယောက် ပြောသော စကားများသည် ထပ်ခါထပ်ခါ ကြားရ၏။ သူသည် အညစ်အကြေးလိမ်းကျံ၊ ကိုယ်အင်္ဂါများ ကြမ်းတမ်း၊ ဆံပင်ရှည်၊ အနံ့ဆိုးထွက်၍ အလံတစ်စင်းကို ကိုင်ဆောင်ထား၏။

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इत्यादि-उद्धरण/समाप्तिसूचक (quotative particle)

• एवम्: in this way
• एवम्: Prakara (प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (manner adverb)

• चिन्तयन्: thinking
• चिन्तयन्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: चिन्त् (धातु) + शतृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकृदन्त (present participle, शतृ); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तरि

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक क्रियाविशेषण

• चण्डाल-उक्तम्: what was said by the caṇḍāla
• चण्डाल-उक्तम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चण्डाल (प्रातिपदिक) + उक्त (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी: चण्डालस्य उक्तम्); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; (object of repetition/recall)

• पुनः: again
• पुनः: Kala (काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; पुनरावृत्तिवाचक (adverb of repetition)

• पुनः: again
• पुनः: Kala (काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; पुनरावृत्तिवाचक

• मलिनः: dirty, soiled
• मलिनः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मलिन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण

• रूक्ष-सर्वाङ्गः: with all limbs rough
• रूक्ष-सर्वाङ्गः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रूक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + सर्वाङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण

• केशवान्: hairy/with hair
• केशवान्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: केशवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: मतुप्-प्रत्ययान्त विशेषण; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• गन्धवान्: foul-smelling/with smell
• गन्धवान्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गन्धवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: मतुप्-प्रत्ययान्त विशेषण; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• ध्वजी: banner-bearer (one with a flag)
• ध्वजी: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ध्वजिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ध्वजिन्-शब्द (ending -इन्)

Speakers

• Narrator; caṇḍāla figure referenced

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "bibhatsa", "secondaryRasa": "karuna", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Haunting repetition
• Social boundary figures in narrative
• Fear and disorientation

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

In distress, the mind loops on striking impressions (‘again and again’); the passage shows how suffering narrows awareness and makes one susceptible to fear-driven fixation.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Narrative psychology within ākhyāna; not directly pañcalakṣaṇa.

What is the esoteric significance?

The banner-bearing, foul figure can function as an externalization of inner tamas—an embodied ‘sign’ (dhvaja) of the mind’s impurity when overwhelmed.