Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 15, Shloka 64
Adhyaya 15 — Karmic Retribution: Rebirths After Naraka and the King’s Compassion in Hell
क्षुत्पिपासाभवं दुःखं यच्च मूर्च्छाप्रदं महत् ।
एतेषां त्राणदानन्तु मन्ये स्वर्गसुखात् परम् ॥
kṣutpipāsābhavaṃ duḥkhaṃ yac ca mūrcchāpradaṃ mahat |
eteṣāṃ trāṇadānaṃ tu manye svargasukhāt param ||
ਭੁੱਖ ਤੇ ਤ੍ਰਿਹ ਨਾਲ ਉਪਜਿਆ ਦੁੱਖ ਅਤੇ ਬੇਹੋਸ਼ੀ ਕਰ ਦੇਣ ਵਾਲੀ ਉਹ ਮਹਾਂ ਪੀੜਾ—ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਦੁਖੀ ਜੀਵਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਬਚਾਉਣਾ ਮੈਂ ਸਵਰਗ ਦੇ ਸੁਖਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਵੀ ਉੱਚਾ ਮੰਨਦਾ ਹਾਂ।
{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
The verse elevates active compassion (protecting those in extreme suffering) above personal reward. It frames dharma not as a transaction for svarga, but as a commitment to relieve others’ duḥkha even at the cost of delaying one’s own heavenly enjoyment.
Primarily Dharma/ācāra material within a narrative setting; it is not directly sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita, but functions as ethical instruction embedded in vaṃśānucarita-style storytelling (exemplary conduct of a ruler).
Hunger and thirst symbolize existential lack; ‘fainting’ suggests collapse of egoic endurance. The teaching hints that transcending svarga-oriented desire occurs when one’s consciousness turns outward into universal empathy—an inner ‘ascent’ higher than heaven.