Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 87, Shloka 6

Adhyaya 87 — The Slaying of Dhumralochana and the Emergence of Kali; the Fall of Chanda and Munda (Chamunda Named)

Sanskrit

विचित्रखट्वाङ्गधरा नरमालाविभूषणा ।

द्वीपिचर्मपरिधानाः शुष्कमांसातिभैरवा ॥

Transliteration

vicitra-khaṭvāṅga-dharā nara-mālā-vibhūṣaṇā /

dvīpi-carma-parīdhānā śuṣka-māṃsāti-bhairavā

Translation

နាងသည် လည်ပင်းအပေါ်တွင် ခေါင်းခွံတင်ထားသော အံ့ဖွယ်တံတောင် (ခတ်ဝါင်ဂ) ကို ကိုင်ဆောင်၍၊ လူခေါင်းများဖြင့် ပြုလုပ်သော မာလာဖြင့် အလှဆင်ကာ၊ ကျားအရေကို ဝတ်ဆင်ပြီး၊ အလွန်ကြောက်မက်ဖွယ်ကောင်း၍ အခြောက်အသားကဲ့သို့ (ပိန်ပါး၍ ကြမ်းတမ်း) ဖြစ်သည်။

Word by Word

• विचित्र-खट्वाङ्ग-धरा: holding a wondrous club (khaṭvāṅga)
• विचित्र-खट्वाङ्ग-धरा: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विचित्र (प्रातिपदिक) + खट्वाङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक) + धर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (विचित्रं खट्वाङ्गं धारयति)

• नर-माला-विभूषणा: adorned with a garland of men (skulls/corpses)
• नर-माला-विभूषणा: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नर (प्रातिपदिक) + माला (प्रातिपदिक) + विभूषण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (नरमालया विभूषिता/विभूषणं यस्याः)

• द्वीपि-चर्म-परिधानाः: wearing a leopard-skin garment
• द्वीपि-चर्म-परिधानाः: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वीपि (प्रातिपदिक) + चर्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) + परिधान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (द्वीपिचर्म परिधानं यस्याः)

• शुष्क-मांस-अति-भैरवा: exceedingly dreadful, with dried flesh
• शुष्क-मांस-अति-भैरवा: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुष्क (प्रातिपदिक) + मांस (प्रातिपदिक) + अति (अव्यय) + भैरव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समास (शुष्कमांस-सम्बन्धेन अतिभैरवा)

Speakers

• Narrative within Devi Mahatmyam

Primary Deities

• Kālī

Shakti Aspects

• Kālī / Chamundā (fierce battle-form)

Key Themes

• Shaktism
• Tantric iconography (non-ritual here, descriptive)
• Fearsome compassion
• Impermanence

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The terrifying imagery teaches detachment: what appears dreadful is the divine power that ends egoic violence; the garland and skins signify mastery over death and predation.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Carita (narrative of divine acts) within a Purāṇic theological section; not a manvantara/genealogy passage.

What is the esoteric significance?

The khaṭvāṅga and human-garland symbolize conquered time and mortality; the tiger-skin indicates subjugation of raw instinct. The ‘gaunt’ form points to the consuming fire that leaves no residue of ignorance.