Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 45, Shloka 57

Adhyaya 45 — Jaimini’s Cosmological Questions and the Opening of Markandeya’s Account of Primary Creation

Sanskrit

शान्ता घोराश्च मूढाश्च विशेषास्तेन ते स्मृताः ।

परस्परानुप्रवेशाद्धारयन्ति परस्परम् ॥

Transliteration

śāntā ghorāśca mūḍhāśca viśeṣāstena te smṛtāḥ / parasparānupraveśāddhārayanti parasparam

Translation

Kaya ang mga natatanging elementong iyon (viśeṣa) ay inaalala bilang payapa, kakila-kilabot, at naliligaw sa kamangmangan. Sa pagtagos sa isa’t isa, sila’y nagtataguyod sa isa’t isa.

Word by Word

• śāntāḥ: calm
• śāntāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śānta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (प्रथमा) Plural; ‘calm’ qualifying viśeṣāḥ

• ghorāḥ: terrible
• ghorāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ghora (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (प्रथमा) Plural; ‘terrible’ qualifying viśeṣāḥ

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक)

• mūḍhāḥ: dull; deluded
• mūḍhāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mūḍha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (प्रथमा) Plural; ‘dull/deluded’ qualifying viśeṣāḥ

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक)

• viśeṣāḥ: distinct qualities; particular states
• viśeṣāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśeṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (प्रथमा) Plural

• tena: thereby; therefore
• tena: Hetu (हेतु/Reason)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Instrumental sense used adverbially: ‘thereby/therefore’ (तेन)

• te: they
• te: Karta (कर्ता/Subject apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (प्रथमा) Plural; pronoun referring to viśeṣāḥ

• smṛtāḥ: are called; are regarded
• smṛtāḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया/Predicate, nominal)
• Type: Verb
• Root: smṛ (धातु) + ta (कृत्)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Masculine Nominative Plural; used predicatively ‘are called/are considered’

• paraspara-anupraveśāt: from mutual interpenetration
• paraspara-anupraveśāt: Hetu (हेतु/Reason)
• Type: Noun
• Root: paraspara + anupraveśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Ablative (पञ्चमी) Singular; tatpuruṣa ‘from mutual interpenetration’

• dhārayanti: support; sustain
• dhārayanti: Kriyā (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dhṛ (धातु)
• Form: Laṭ (लट्/Present), Parasmaipada, 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष) Plural

• parasparam: each other; mutually
• parasparam: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: paraspara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Accusative (द्वितीया) Singular used adverbially ‘each other/mutually’

Speakers

• Narrative discourse within cosmological teaching (frame-speaker not explicit in the given excerpt)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Interpenetration of elements
• Guṇas (sattva/rajas/tamas) implied
• Ontology

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The world is relational: no element stands alone. Likewise, human experience is a weave of calm, agitation, and inertia; wisdom is recognizing their interplay rather than absolutizing any single state.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Sarga: it explains structural functioning of created entities—how the evolutes persist through mutual dependence.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Mutual interpenetration’ can be read as a microcosmic teaching: body and mind are composite fields where multiple forces co-inhere; liberation involves disentangling the witness (puruṣa/kṣetrajña) from these interdependent modes.