Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 91, Shloka 8

Adhyaya 91 — The Gods’ Hymn to Kātyāyanī and the Goddess’ Prophecy of Future Manifestations

Sanskrit

कलाकाष्ठादिरूपेण परिणामप्रदायिनी ।

विश्वस्योपरतौ शक्ते नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥

Transliteration

kalā-kāṣṭhādi-rūpeṇa pariṇāma-pradāyinī | viśvasyoparatau śakte nārāyaṇi namo 'stu te ||

Translation

ကလာ (kalā)၊ ကာဋ္ဌာ (kāṣṭhā) စသည့် အချိန်တိုင်းတာမှုများ၏ ပုံစံများဖြင့် သင်သည် ပြောင်းလဲမှုကို ပေးသနား၏။ ကမ္ဘာပျက်ကွက်ချိန် (pralaya) ၏ အင်အားတော်၊ အို နာရာယဏီ၊ သင့်အား နမസ്കာရ။

Word by Word

• kalā-kāṣṭhā-ādi-rūpeṇa: in the form of kalā, kāṣṭhā, etc.
• kalā-kāṣṭhā-ādi-rūpeṇa: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kalā (प्रातिपदिक) + kāṣṭhā (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक) + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया (Instrumental), एकवचन, नपुंसकलिङ्ग — ‘in the form of kalā, kāṣṭhā, etc.’; ādi-शब्देन समाहारः

• pariṇāma-pradāyinī: bestower of transformation
• pariṇāma-pradāyinī: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण of the addressed deity)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pariṇāma (प्रातिपदिक) + pra-√dā (दा धातु) → pradāyinī (कृदन्त, णिनि)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/संबोधन एकवचन — ‘one who bestows transformation/change’; उपपद-तत्पुरुषः

• viśvasya: of the universe
• viśvasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (Genitive), एकवचन, नपुंसकलिङ्ग — ‘of the universe’

• uparatau: in cessation
• uparatau: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: uparati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सप्तमी (Locative), एकवचन, स्त्रीलिङ्ग — ‘in cessation/withdrawal’

• śakte: O Power
• śakte: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śakti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संबोधन (Vocative), एकवचन, स्त्रीलिङ्ग — ‘O Power’

• nārāyaṇi: O Nārāyaṇī
• nārāyaṇi: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nārāyaṇī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संबोधन, एकवचन, स्त्रीलिङ्ग

• namaḥ: salutation
• namaḥ: भाव (salutation expression)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (interjection/particle)

• astu: may it be
• astu: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √as (अस् धातु)
• Form: लोट्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• te: to you
• te: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: चतुर्थी (Dative), एकवचन — ‘to you’

Speakers

• Devas addressing Devī

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Devī (Nārāyaṇī)
• Devas (collective)

Shakti Aspects

• Kāla-śakti (time power); Pralaya-śakti (dissolution/withdrawal power)

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Time
• Change (pariṇāma)
• Dissolution (pralaya/withdrawal)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

All change is governed by sacred order; remembering time’s divinity encourages urgency in dharma and detachment from what inevitably transforms and ends.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Relates conceptually to pralaya (dissolution) and cyclical cosmology; though expressed as hymn, it echoes purāṇic cosmological structure.

What is the esoteric significance?

Time-units symbolize the mind’s segmentation of experience; realizing Devī as kāla points to transcending fragmented attention into awareness of the continuous ground.