Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 81, Shloka 27

Adhyaya 81 — Suratha and Samadhi Seek Sage Medhas; Introduction to Mahamaya and the Madhukaitabha Origin Account

Sanskrit

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

ततस्तौ सहितौ विप्र तं मुनिं समुपस्थितौ ।

समाधिर्नाम वैश्योऽसौ स च पार्थिवसत्तमः ॥

Transliteration

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca

tatas tau sahitau vipra taṃ muniṃ samupasthitau |

samādhir nāma vaiśyo 'sau sa ca pārthiva-sattamaḥ ||

Translation

မာရကဏ္ဍေယက ဆို၏— «ထိုအခါ ထိုနှစ်ဦးသည် အတူတကွ၊ အို ဗြာဟ္မဏ၊ ထိုရသီထံ ချဉ်းကပ်သွားကြ၏။ ကုန်သည်၏အမည်မှာ သမာဓိ ဖြစ်ပြီး၊ အခြားတစ်ဦးမှာ အထူးမြတ်သော မင်းကြီး ဖြစ်၏»။

Word by Word

• mārkaṇḍeyaḥ: Markandeya
• mārkaṇḍeyaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mārkaṇḍeya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kāla (काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, काल/अनन्तरवाचक (then/thereupon)

• tau: those two
• tau: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन (Dual)

• sahitau: together
• sahitau: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sahita (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; विशेषण (qualifying tau)

• vipra: O brahmin
• vipra: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• tam: that
• tam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन

• munim: sage
• munim: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• samupasthitau: approached
• samupasthitau: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-upa-√sthā (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past participle used predicatively); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचन; 'having approached/attended' (agreeing with tau)

• samādhiḥ: Samādhi (name)
• samādhiḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: samādhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• nāma: by name
• nāma: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāma (अव्यय)
• Form: नामनिर्देशक-अव्यय (indeclinable indicating name: 'by name')

• vaiśyaḥ: a vaiśya
• vaiśyaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vaiśya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• asau: that one (he)
• asau: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; निर्देशार्थ (demonstrative)

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय

• pārthiva-sattamaḥ: the best of kings
• pārthiva-sattamaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pārthiva (प्रातिपदिक) + sattama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (श्रेष्ठः पार्थिवानाम्); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

Speakers

• Markandeya narrating to an unnamed brahmin listener (within the Purana’s narration)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Frame story
• Approach to guru
• Preparation for Devi teaching

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Both ruler and merchant, despite social difference, share the same inner bondage; the tradition emphasizes approaching a realized teacher when personal reasoning fails.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Narrative episode supporting a theological discourse; not a core Pancalakṣaṇa section.

What is the esoteric significance?

The pairing of king (power/rajas) and merchant (acquisition/rajas) symbolizes worldly drives converging toward the sage—hinting that the same Śakti governs both worldly engagement and the turn toward liberation.