Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 88, Shloka 56

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

Sanskrit

ततोऽसावाजघानाथ गदया तत्र चण्डिकाम् ।

न चास्या वेदनां चक्रे गदापातोऽल्पिकामपि ॥

Transliteration

tato 'sāv ājaghānātha gadayā tatra caṇḍikām | na cāsyā vedanāṃ cakre gadāpāto 'lpikām api ||

Translation

ထို့နောက် သူသည် ထိုနေရာတွင် စန္ဍိကာကို မေ့စ် (mace) ဖြင့် ထိုးနှက်하였다။ သို့သော် ထိုမေ့စ်၏ ထိုးနှက်မှုသည် သူမအား နည်းနည်းမျှ မနာကျင်စေခဲ့။

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kāla/krama (काल/क्रम)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb

• asau: that one (he)
• asau: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative Singular

• ājaghāna: struck
• ājaghāna: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā + han (धातु)
• Form: Liṭ (लिट्, perfect), Prathama-puruṣa Singular, Parasmaipada

• atha: then/thereupon
• atha: Kāla/krama (काल/क्रम)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (अनन्तरार्थक-अव्यय)

• gadayā: with a mace
• gadayā: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gadā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental Singular

• tatra: there
• tatra: Deśa (देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb of place (देशवाचक-अव्यय)

• caṇḍikām: Caṇḍikā
• caṇḍikām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: caṇḍikā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative Singular

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: Negation particle

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

• asyāḥ: of her
• asyāḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive Singular

• vedanām: pain/sensation of pain
• vedanām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vedanā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative Singular

• cakre: made/caused
• cakre: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Liṭ (लिट्, perfect), Prathama-puruṣa Singular, Ātmanepada

• gadā-pātaḥ: the mace-blow
• gadā-pātaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gadā (प्रातिपदिक) + pāta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) ‘fall/blow of a mace’; Masculine, Nominative Singular

• alpikām: even a little
• alpikām: Karma-viśeṣaṇa (कर्मविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: alpikā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative Singular; used as qualifier of vedanām

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/न्यूनाधिक्य)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (अपि = even/also)

Speakers

• Ṛṣi (narrator)

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Caṇḍikā
• Raktabīja

Shakti Aspects

• Caṇḍikā as invincible Devī; Raktabīja as attacker

Key Themes

• Shaktism
• Divine invulnerability
• Futility of demonic force
• Transcendence over injury

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Adharma’s assaults cannot truly wound the divine ground of order. The verse reassures devotees: the Devī is not diminished by opposition; she remains the stable refuge.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Devotional heroic narrative (upākhyāna), not a pancalakṣaṇa unit.

What is the esoteric significance?

The Devī’s lack of pain suggests the non-dual ground: impacts occur at the level of appearance, but the essential Śakti (cit-śakti) is untouched—akṣata, uninjured.