Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 15, Shloka 54

Adhyaya 15 — Karmic Retribution: Rebirths After Naraka and the King’s Compassion in Hell

Sanskrit

अश्वमेधादयो यज्ञास्त्वयेष्टा विधिवद्यतः ।

ततस्त्वद्दर्शनाद्यामी यन्त्रशस्त्राग्निवायसाः ॥

Transliteration

aśvamedhādayo yajñās tvayeṣṭā vidhivad yataḥ | tatas tvaddarśanād yāmyā yantraśastrāgnivāyasāḥ ||

Translation

“Lễ Aśvamedha và các tế tự khác đã được ngài cử hành đúng pháp, đúng nghi. Vì thế, chỉ cần thấy ngài, các dụng cụ, vũ khí, lửa và gió gây hành hạ trong cõi Diêm Vương đều bị ngăn lại.”

Word by Word

• aśvamedha-ādayaḥ: Aśvamedha and other (sacrifices)
• aśvamedha-ādayaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aśvamedha + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; ‘-ādayaḥ’ = ‘and others’ (ādi-śabda)

• yajñāḥ: sacrifices
• yajñāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yajña (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• tvayā: by you
• tvayā: Karana (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• iṣṭāḥ: performed
• iṣṭāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject-complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: iṣṭa (कृदन्त; √yaj इष्ट ‘sacrificed/performed’)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; ‘performed’ (agreeing with yajñāḥ)

• vidhi-vat: according to rule, duly
• vidhi-vat: Kriya-viseshana (क्रियाविशेषण/Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vidhi + vat (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययवत्-प्रयोग)
• Form: अव्यय (adverbial), प्रकारवाचक

• yataḥ: since/therefore
• yataḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Logical connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction/particle), हेत्वर्थे ‘since/therefore’

• tataḥ: thereupon, then
• tataḥ: Desha-kala (देश-काल/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb), अपादान/क्रमसूचक ‘thereupon/from that’

• tvad-darśanāt: from (your) sight/seeing you
• tvad-darśanāt: Apadana (अपादान/Source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad + darśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष ‘from your seeing/your sight’

• yāmyāḥ: of Yama, Yama’s
• yāmyāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yāmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; ‘belonging to Yama’ (agreeing with following nouns)

• yantra-śastra-agni-vāyasāḥ: machines, weapons, fire, and crows
• yantra-śastra-agni-vāyasāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yantra + śastra + agni + vāyasa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; समाहार/इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व ‘machines, weapons, fire, and crows’ (as tormenting agents)

Speakers

• Unspecified infernal authority/attendant addressing the king (context suggests Yama’s realm; followed by ‘yamapuruṣa uvāca’ in v.58)

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Yama

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Karma
• Afterlife (Naraka)
• Royal duty
• Compassion

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Merit (puṇya) gained through properly performed dharma—here, major royal yajñas—radiates outward: it does not remain private, but can relieve the suffering of others. The verse frames virtue as a protective, pacifying force even in hostile realms.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Primarily ‘Vṛtti/Ācāra’ (dharma-teaching) within Purāṇic narrative; secondarily connected to ‘Manvantara’ ethics insofar as kingship and punishment/justice are manvantara-stable institutions, but no specific manvantara data appears here.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘cooling’ of infernal fires and weapons at the sight of the righteous suggests the subtle power of sattva and puṇya as a field-effect: dharmic integrity becomes a kind of spiritual armor that transforms environments, not merely outcomes after death.