Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 43, Shloka 11
Adhyaya 43 — Portents of Death (Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇas) and the Yogin’s Response; Alarka Renounces Kingship
घृते तैले तथादर्शे तोये वा नात्मनस्तनुम् ।
यः पश्येदशिरस्कां वा मासादूर्ध्वं न जीवति ॥
ghṛte taile tathādarśe toye vā nātmanastanum / yaḥ paśyedaśiraskāṃ vā māsādūrdhvaṃ na jīvati
ਜੇ ਕੋਈ ਘਿਉ, ਤੇਲ, ਦਰਪਣ ਜਾਂ ਪਾਣੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਆਪਣਾ ਸਰੀਰ ਵੇਖ ਕੇ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਸਿਰ ਤੋਂ ਬਿਨਾਂ ਵੇਖੇ, ਤਾਂ ਉਹ ਇੱਕ ਮਹੀਨੇ ਤੋਂ ਵੱਧ ਨਹੀਂ ਜੀਊਂਦਾ।
{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
The ‘headless’ vision dramatizes the fragility of embodied identity; ethically it urges immediate completion of vows, settling debts, and cultivating remembrance of the Self beyond the body.
Ancillary omen-literature; not part of sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita.
The head symbolizes prajñā and life-principle; its absence in reflection suggests withdrawal of prāṇa/tejas. Reflective media (water, oil) are liminal surfaces—metaphors for the boundary between worlds.