Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 50, Shloka 51

Adhyaya 50 — Mind-Born Progeny, Svayambhuva Manu’s Lineage, and Brahmā’s Ordinance to Duḥsaha (Alakṣmī’s Retinue)

Sanskrit

यच्च पौनर्भवा योषित् तद्यक्ष ! तव तृप्तये ।

कन्याशुल्कोपधानाय समुपास्ते धनक्रियाः ॥

Transliteration

yac ca paunarbhavā yoṣit tad yakṣa tava tṛptaye |

kanyā-śulkopadhānāya samupāste dhana-kriyāḥ ||

Translation

«Также и обряды, направленные на богатство, которые женщина “паунарбхава” (paunarbhavā) совершает ради выкупа за невесту или как денежный залог/обеспечение,—о Якша, это для твоего удовлетворения.»

Word by Word

• yat: which
• yat: Anuyogī (अनुयोगी/relative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Napumsaka, Prathamā/Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; relative pronoun

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Samuccaya-nipāta (conjunction)

• paunarbhavā: remarried (woman)
• paunarbhavā: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: paunarbhavā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā (1st), Ekavacana; viśeṣaṇa of yoṣit

• yoṣit: woman
• yoṣit: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yoṣit (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā (1st), Ekavacana

• tat: that
• tat: Anuyogī (अनुयोगी/correlative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Napumsaka, Prathamā/Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; correlative to yat

• yakṣa: O Yakṣa
• yakṣa: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana (vocative), Ekavacana

• tava: of you/your
• tava: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Ṣaṣṭhī (6th), Ekavacana

• tṛptaye: for satisfaction
• tṛptaye: Prayojana (प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tṛpti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Caturthī (4th), Ekavacana; dative of purpose

• kanyā-śulka-upadhānāya: for (providing) a pledge/security for bride-price
• kanyā-śulka-upadhānāya: Prayojana (प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kanyā (प्रातिपदिक) + śulka (प्रातिपदिक) + upadhāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) (multi-member) ‘kanyā-śulka’ (bride-price) + ‘upadhāna’ (pledge/cover); Napumsaka, Caturthī (4th), Ekavacana; purpose

• samupāste: serves/attends upon
• samupāste: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-upa-ās (आस् धातु)
• Form: Laṭ-lakāra (present), Prathama-puruṣa (3rd), Ekavacana; Ātmanepada

• dhana-kriyāḥ: money-making activities
• dhana-kriyāḥ: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dhana (प्रातिपदिक) + kriyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) ‘dhana-kriyā’ = dhanārthāḥ kriyāḥ; Strīliṅga, Prathamā (1st), Bahuvacana

Speakers

• Unspecified narrator addressing a Yakṣa

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Social dharma
• Wealth and ritual intent
• Critique of transactional rites

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Rites driven by transactional or socially censured motives are portrayed as spiritually misdirected; the passage warns against reducing dharma to wealth-strategies.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Normative social-ritual teaching (ācāra) rather than pancalakṣaṇa’s cosmology/genealogy/history.

What is the esoteric significance?

When desire for gain becomes the ‘deity’ of a rite, the subtle beneficiary shifts from the divine to acquisitive/liminal powers—here encoded as Yakṣa-satisfaction.