Shloka 2

Adhyaya 76 — The Sixth Manvantara: Cakshusha Manu, the Child-Snatcher, and the Problem of Kinship

Sanskrit

अन्यजन्मनि जातो 'सौ चाक्षुषः परमेṣ्ठिनः ।

चाक्षुषत्वमतस्तस्य जन्मन्यस्मिन्नपि द्विज ॥

Transliteration

anyajanmani jāto 'sau cākṣuṣaḥ parameṣṭhinaḥ / cākṣuṣatvam atas tasya janmany asminn api dvija //

Translation

ਹੋਰ ਜਨਮ ਵਿੱਚ ਉਹ ਪਰਮੇਸ਼ਠੀ (ਬ੍ਰਹਮਾ) ਦਾ ਪੁੱਤਰ ‘ਚਾਕ੍ਸ਼ੁਸ਼’ ਹੋ ਕੇ ਜੰਮਿਆ ਸੀ। ਇਸ ਲਈ, ਹੇ ਦ੍ਵਿਜ, ਇਸ ਜਨਮ ਵਿੱਚ ਵੀ ਉਸ ਵਿੱਚ ‘ਚਾਕ੍ਸ਼ੁਸ਼ਤਾ’ ਦੀ ਅਵਸਥਾ ਮੌਜੂਦ ਹੈ।

Word by Word

• anya-janmani: in another birth
• anya-janmani: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक) + janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुषः (विशेषण-विशेष्यभावः)

• jātaḥ: born
• jātaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jan (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त-प्रत्ययान्त), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; agrees with subject

• asau: that (person), he
• asau: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• cākṣuṣaḥ: Cākṣuṣa
• cākṣuṣaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cākṣuṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; proper name/epithet

• parameṣṭhinaḥ: of Parameṣṭhin (Brahmā)
• parameṣṭhinaḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parameṣṭhin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• cākṣuṣatvam: the state of being Cākṣuṣa
• cākṣuṣatvam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cākṣuṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + -tva (त्व)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; abstract noun (भाववाचक)

• ataḥ: therefore, hence
• ataḥ: Hetu (हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Indeclinable (अव्यय), adverbial particle (हेतु/तस्मात्-अर्थे)

• tasya: of him
• tasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• janmani: in (this) birth
• janmani: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular

• asmin: in this
• asmin: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Demonstrative pronoun used adjectivally (विशेषणवत्), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; agrees with janmani

• api: also, even
• api: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Indeclinable (अव्यय), particle (समुच्चय/अपि-अर्थे)

• dvija: O twice-born (brahmin)
• dvija: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (8th/सम्बोधन), Singular

Speakers

• Narrative voice (Purāṇic narrator) addressing a dvija (likely within the birds’ dialogue frame of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa).

Primary Deities

• Brahmā (Parameṣṭhin)

Key Themes

• Rebirth
• Jātismara
• Identity across births
• Purāṇic genealogy

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse establishes continuity of saṃskāra and identity across births: prior attainments and roles can leave impressions that manifest again, preparing the ground for the jātismara child’s discernment.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Primarily Vaṃśa/Vaṃśānucarita (genealogy and accounts of lineages/persons), with an implicit karmic-rebirth teaching supporting dharma-narrative aims.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Cākṣuṣa’ (linked with ‘sight’) hints at inner vision: memory of prior births functions as a form of subtle ‘seeing’—discriminative insight that will expose hidden motives.