Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 81, Shloka 46

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

Sanskrit

यत्स्वभावा च सा देवी यत्स्वरूपा यदुद्भवा । तत् सर्वं श्रोतुमिच्छामि त्वत्तो ब्रह्मविदां वर ॥

Transliteration

yat-svabhāvā ca sā devī yat-svarūpā yad-udbhavā | tat sarvaṃ śrotum icchāmi tvatto brahma-vidāṃ vara ||

Translation

ဒေဝီ၏ သဘာဝအရင်းအမြစ်သည် အဘယ်နည်း၊ သူမ၏ အမှန်တကယ်သော ရုပ်သဘော (စွမ်းရည်/ရূপ) သည် အဘယ်နည်း၊ ထို့ပြင် သူမ၏ ပေါ်ထွန်းခြင်းသည် အဘယ်နည်း။ ဗြဟ္မကို သိမြင်သူတို့အနက် အကောင်းဆုံးဖြစ်သော အရှင်ထံမှ အားလုံးကို ကြားလိုပါသည်။

Word by Word

• यत्: whatever/that which
• यत्: सम्बन्ध (Relative marker)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम (relative)

• स्वभावा: whose nature is (such)
• स्वभावा: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्व + भाव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः (स्वस्य भावः); स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (to देवी)

• च: and
• च: समुच्चय (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्ययम्

• सा: she
• सा: कर्ता (Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• देवी: the goddess
• देवी: कर्ता (Apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

• यत्: whatever
• यत्: सम्बन्ध (Relative marker)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम

• स्वरूपा: whose form is (such)
• स्वरूपा: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्व + रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः (स्वस्य रूपम्); स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम्

• यत्: whatever
• यत्: सम्बन्ध (Relative marker)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम

• उद्भवा: whose origin is (such)
• उद्भवा: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उद् + भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः (उद्भवः = उत्पत्तिः); स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम्

• तत्: that
• तत्: कर्म (Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे द्वितीया-विभक्तिः (Accusative), एकवचनम्; ‘तत् सर्वम्’ इति कर्मपदम्

• सर्वम्: all
• सर्वम्: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (to तत्)

• श्रोतुम्: to hear
• श्रोतुम्: प्रयोजन (Purpose)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √श्रु (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्तम् (Infinitive), अव्ययवत्; प्रयोजनार्थे

• इच्छामि: I wish
• इच्छामि: क्रिया (Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √इष् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकारः (Present), उत्तम-पुरुषः, एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्

• त्वत्तः: from you
• त्वत्तः: अपादान (Source/Ablative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे पञ्चमी-विभक्तिः (Ablative), एकवचनम्; ‘from you’

• ब्रह्मविदाम्: of the knowers of Brahman
• ब्रह्मविदाम्: सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मविद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समासः (ब्रह्म वेत्ति इति); पुंलिङ्गे षष्ठी-विभक्तिः, बहुवचनम्

• वर: O best (one)
• वर: सम्बोधन (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे सम्बोधन-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्

Speakers

• King Suratha to Medhas Ṛṣi

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Devī

Shakti Aspects

• Mahāmāyā (continuation of inquiry)

Key Themes

• Devī-tattva
• Ontology (svabhāva/svarūpa)
• Revelation through discourse (śravaṇa)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse prioritizes śravaṇa (listening to authoritative teaching) as a means to right understanding. It also distinguishes three levels of doctrine: essence (svarūpa), disposition/power (svabhāva), and historical manifestation (udbhava).

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Serves as the prompt for a pratisarga-style account (periodic manifestations to restore cosmic order), embedded within the Māhātmya narrative rather than a standalone cosmological chapter.

What is the esoteric significance?

The triad svabhāva–svarūpa–udbhava can be read as śakti’s three registers: transcendence (svarūpa), immanence as law/power (svabhāva), and episodic avatāra-like disclosure (udbhava).