Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 28, Shloka 4

Adhyaya 28 — Alarka Inquires into Varna and Ashrama Dharma; Madalasa Defines the Fourfold Duties

Sanskrit

याजनाध्यापने शुद्धे तथा पूतप्रतिग्रहः ।

एषा सम्यक् समाख्याता त्रिविधा चास्य जीविका ॥

Transliteration

yājanādhyāpane śuddhe tathā pūtapratigrahaḥ / eṣā samyak samākhyātā trividhā cāsya jīvikā

Translation

ਦੂਜਿਆਂ ਲਈ ਯਜ੍ਞ ਕਰਵਾਉਣਾ, ਸ਼ੁੱਧਤਾ ਨਾਲ ਪੜ੍ਹਾਉਣਾ, ਅਤੇ ਕੇਵਲ ਸ਼ੁੱਧ (ਉਚਿਤ) ਦਾਨ ਹੀ ਸਵੀਕਾਰ ਕਰਨਾ—ਇਹੀ ਉਸ ਦੀ ਤਿੰਨ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਰ ਦੀ ਜੀਵਿਕਾ ਠੀਕ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਕਹੀ ਗਈ ਹੈ।

Word by Word

• याजन: officiating at sacrifices (for others)
• याजन: कर्ता/विषय (Item in list)
• Type: Noun
• Root: याजन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (contextually in list), एकवचन; ‘याजयितृत्व/याग-करण’ sense

• अध्यापने: teaching (Veda)
• अध्यापने: कर्ता/विषय (Item in list)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्यापन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (contextually in list), एकवचन

• शुद्धे: pure; legitimate
• शुद्धे: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुद्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, द्विवचन (Dual); विशेषण of ‘याजन’ and ‘अध्यापन’

• तथा: likewise; and also
• तथा: सम्बन्ध/अव्यय (Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, समुच्चय/तुल्यताबोधक (adverb: ‘likewise’)

• पूतप्रतिग्रहः: acceptance of pure gifts
• पूतप्रतिग्रहः: कर्ता/विषय (Item in list)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पूत + प्रतिग्रह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समास: पूतः प्रतिग्रहः (कर्मधारय)

• एषा: this
• एषा: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• सम्यक्: properly; correctly
• सम्यक्: क्रियाविशेषण (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम्यक् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रियाविशेषण

• समाख्याता: has been stated; has been explained
• समाख्याता: विधेय (Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-ख्या (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (Past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘well declared’

• त्रिविधा: threefold
• त्रिविधा: विशेषण (Qualifier of ‘जीविका’)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रिविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समास: त्रयः विधाः यस्याः सा (तत्पुरुष/बहुव्रीहि-सदृश; here adjectival ‘threefold’)

• च: and
• च: सम्बन्ध/अव्यय (Conjunction)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• अस्य: of him (the Brahmin)
• अस्य: षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• जीविका: livelihood; means of living
• जीविका: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जीविका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

Speakers

• Madālasā to Alarka

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Brāhmaṇa livelihood
• Purity
• Teaching
• Ritual officiation
• Ethics of gifts

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Means of livelihood are moral choices: even permitted occupations must be ‘śuddha’ (ethically and ritually clean), and acceptance of gifts requires discernment.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Dharma instruction embedded in dialogue; not a cosmological/genealogical pancalakṣaṇa element.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Purified acceptance’ implies that what one takes into one’s life shapes one’s mind; the verse encodes a discipline of intake—material, social, and psychological.