Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 8, Shloka 166

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

Sanskrit

श्रुत्वा दुःखी तदा राजा देवान् शरणमीयिवान् ।

स्वस्ति कुर्वन्तु मे देवाः शैव्यायाः बालकस्य च ॥

Transliteration

śrutvā duḥkhī tadā rājā devān śaraṇam īyivān / svasti kurvantu me devāḥ śaivyāyā bālakasya ca

Translation

ဤသို့ကြားသော် မင်းသည် ဝမ်းနည်းကြေကွဲလာပြီးနောက် နတ်ဘုရားတို့ထံ အားကိုးခိုလှုံ하였다။ “နတ်ဘုရားတို့သည် ငါ့အားလည်းကောင်း၊ Śaivyā အားလည်းကောင်း၊ ကလေးအားလည်းကောင်း ကောင်းကျိုးချမ်းသာကို ပေးတော်မူပါစေ” ဟု ဆို하였다။

Word by Word

• śrutvā: having heard
• śrutvā: Kriyā (क्रिया/पूर्वकर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: śru (धातु) + ktvā (क्त्वा)
• Form: Absolutive/gerund (क्त्वान्त), indeclinable verbal form; expresses prior action

• duḥkhī: grieved
• duḥkhī: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: duḥkhin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st), Singular; predicate adjective of rājā

• tadā: then
• tadā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb of time (कालवाचक-अव्यय)

• rājā: the king
• rājā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st), Singular

• devān: the gods
• devān: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd), Plural

• śaraṇam: refuge
• śaraṇam: Gati/Karma (गति/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative (2nd), Singular; with verb of motion in sense ‘as refuge’

• īyivān: approached
• īyivān: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: i (धातु)
• Form: Periphrastic perfect participle (लिट्-कृदन्त/ईयिवांस्), Masculine, Nominative (1st), Singular; ‘having gone/approached’

• svasti: well-being
• svasti: Karma (कर्म/desired state)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svasti (अव्यय)
• Form: Benedictive particle/noun used adverbially (मङ्गलवाचक-अव्यय)

• kurvantu: may they do
• kurvantu: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), Parasmaipada, 3rd person, Plural

• me: for me
• me: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Singular; beneficiary

• devāḥ: the gods
• devāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st), Plural

• śaivyāyāḥ: of Śaivyā
• śaivyāyāḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaivyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive (6th), Singular

• bālakasya: of the child
• bālakasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bālaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive (6th), Singular

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/conjunction)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चय-अव्यय)

Speakers

• Narrative voice; king’s prayer

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Devas (collective)

Key Themes

• Śaraṇāgati
• Prayer for auspiciousness (svasti)
• Family protection
• Suffering leading to devotion

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

When worldly supports fail, the dharmic response is śaraṇāgati and welfare-prayer (svasti) not only for oneself but also for dependents—an ethic of responsibility amid distress.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Carita (narrative conduct/episode) with a devotional insertion; not a core pancalakṣaṇa catalog but a didactic story illustrating dharma in crisis.

What is the esoteric significance?

Turning to the devas indicates the inward pivot from egoic control to surrender; ‘svasti’ is not mere luck but alignment with ṛta/dharma, seeking restoration of cosmic order in one’s microcosm (family).