Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 88, Shloka 39

Adhyaya 88 — The Manifestation of the Matrikas and the Slaying of Raktabija

Sanskrit

पलायनपरान् दृष्ट्वा दैत्यान् मातृगणार्दितान् ।

योध्धुमभ्याययौ क्रुद्धो रक्तबीजो महासुरः ॥

Transliteration

palāyanaparān dṛṣṭvā daityān mātṛgaṇārditān / yoddhum abhyāyayau kruddho raktabījo mahāsuraḥ

Translation

မတ်ရိဂဏ (မိခင်နတ်မများ) ၏တပ်စုက ဒိုင်တျများကို လိုက်လံနှိပ်စက်သဖြင့် ထွက်ပြေးလိုကြသည်ကို မြင်သောအခါ အာသုရကြီး ရက္တဘီဇာသည် ဒေါသထွက်ကာ ရှေ့သို့တိုးဝင်၍ တိုက်ခိုက်လေ၏။

Word by Word

• पलायनपरान्: intent on fleeing
• पलायनपरान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पलायन-पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), बहुवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (पलायनस्य पराः = पलायनपराः)

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• दृष्ट्वा: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया; धातुः दृश् (पश्यति)

• दैत्यान्: the demons (Daityas)
• दैत्यान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दैत्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• मातृगण-अर्दितान्: afflicted by the Mothers’ host
• मातृगण-अर्दितान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मातृ-गण + अर्दित (कृदन्त, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (मातृगणेन अर्दिताः)

• योध्धुम्: to fight
• योध्धुम्: Prayojana (प्रयोजन)
• Type: Verb
• Root: युध् (धातु)
• Form: तुमुन्-प्रत्ययान्त (Infinitive), उद्देश्य/प्रयोजनार्थ

• अभ्याययौ: came forward/approached
• अभ्याययौ: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि-आ-या (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• क्रुद्धः: angry
• क्रुद्धः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रुध् (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (Past participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• रक्तबीजः: Raktabīja
• रक्तबीजः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रक्त-बीज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः कर्मधारयः (रक्तं बीजं यस्य/रक्तबीजः—नाम)

• महासुरः: the great demon
• महासुरः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा-असुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः कर्मधारयः (महान् असुरः)

Speakers

• Frame narration within Devi Mahatmyam (traditional recitation voice; not the Jaimini–Mārkaṇḍeya bird-dialogue segment here)

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "vira", "secondaryRasa": "raudra", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Mātṛkās
• Raktabīja

Shakti Aspects

• Mātṛkās (Mothers); battlefield emanations of Devī’s powers

Key Themes

• Shaktism
• Divine warfare
• Protection of cosmic order
• Asuric aggression

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

When adharma is cornered it often escalates; Raktabīja’s anger symbolizes the reactive intensification of egoic forces when confronted by divine order (śakti).

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

This passage is primarily not pañcalakṣaṇa material (sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita) but a dhārmic-ākhyāna (sacred narrative) embedded in the Purāṇa.

What is the esoteric significance?

The Mātṛkās represent differentiated powers of consciousness; the demon’s advance indicates the surfacing of deeply rooted impressions (saṃskāras) when purification begins.