Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 18, Shloka 47
Adhyaya 18 — Arjuna Declines the Throne; Garga Directs Him to Dattatreya; The Gods Defeat the Daityas through Dattatreya’s Vision and the Movement of Lakshmi
दत्तात्रेयस्ततो देवान् विहस्येदमथाब्रवीत् ।
दिष्ट्या वर्धथ दैत्यानामेषा लक्ष्मीः शिरोगता ।
सप्त स्थानान्यतिक्रान्ता नवमं यमुपैष्यति ॥
dattātreyas tato devān vihasyedam athābravīt | diṣṭyā vardhatha daityānām eṣā lakṣmīḥ śirogatā | sapta sthānāny atikrāntā navamaṃ yam upaiṣyati ||
Pagkaraan, si Dattātreya ay tumawa at nagsabi sa mga diyos: “Tunay ngang lumalago ang kapalaran ng mga Daitya—ang ‘Lakṣmī’ na ito’y dumating sa ibabaw ng kanilang mga ulo! Pagkalampas ng pitong himpilan, siya’y tutungo sa ikasiyam.”
FAQs
Dattātreya’s laughter signals the inevitability of consequence: what the Daityas call ‘fortune’ is actually the setup for their fall. Adharma often mistakes immediate gain for lasting prosperity.
A narrative hinge that foreshadows outcomes (vaṃśānucarita-style moral episode), not a direct pancalakṣaṇa passage.
‘Lakṣmī on the head’ is double-edged: externally, they bear the palanquin; internally, they have enthroned craving above discernment. The cryptic ‘seven stations… ninth’ functions as omen-language: a destined transition from apparent elevation to a terminal locus (often read in Purāṇic idiom as the movement toward ruin/niyati).