Shloka 1
Adhyaya 70 — The King Confronts the Rakshasa and Restores the Brahmin’s Wife
इति श्रीमार्कण्डेयपुराणे औत्तममन्वन्तरे एकोनसप्ततितमोऽध्यायः । सप्ततितमोऽध्यायः- ७० । मार्कण्डेय उवाच । अथारुरोह स्वरथं प्रणिपत्य महामुनिम् । तेनाख्यातं वनं तच्च प्रययावुत्पलावतम् ॥
iti śrīmārkaṇḍeyapurāṇe auttamamanvantare ekonasaptatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ / saptatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ- 70 / mārkaṇḍeya uvāca athāruroha svarathaṃ praṇipatya mahāmunim / tenākhyātaṃ vanam antaś ca prayayāv utpalāvatam
Assim, no Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, no Auttama-manvantara, encerra-se o sexagésimo nono capítulo; inicia-se o septuagésimo. Disse Mārkaṇḍeya: Então ele montou em seu próprio carro; após inclinar-se diante do grande sábio, partiu para a floresta por ele indicada, rumo a Utpalāvataka.
FAQs
Right action follows right reverence: the king bows to wisdom (mahāmuni) and then acts decisively, showing the ideal sequence—humility, instruction, execution.
Manvantara: explicit placement within Auttama-manvantara; the colophon anchors the narrative in Purāṇic time-structure.
The ‘journey to the forest’ indicates movement from courtly order into the testing-ground of the unknown—where dharma must be enacted, not merely proclaimed.