Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 27, Shloka 14

Adhyaya 27 — Madālasa’s Instruction to King Alarka: Royal Ethics, Self-Conquest, and Statecraft

Sanskrit

कामप्रसक्तमात्मानं स्मृत्वा पाण्डुं निपातितम् ।

निवर्तयेत्तथा क्रोधादनुह्रादं हतात्मजम् ॥

Transliteration

kāmaprasaktam ātmānaṃ smṛtvā pāṇḍuṃ nipātitam /

nivartayet tathā krodhād anuhrādaṃ hatātmajam

Translation

Nhớ đến Pāṇḍu, kẻ bị hạ nhục vì chấp trước dục vọng, người ta nên tự chế; và cũng vậy, (hãy nhớ) Anuhrāda, kẻ vì sân hận mà giết chính con trai mình.

Word by Word

• कामप्रसक्तम्: attached to desire
• कामप्रसक्तम्: Karma (कर्म/Object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: काम (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रसक्त (कृदन्त from सञ्ज्/सज् with प्र-)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: ‘attached to desire’

• आत्मानम्: oneself
• आत्मानम्: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• स्मृत्वा: having remembered
• स्मृत्वा: Kriya-viseshana (क्रियाविशेषण/Adverbial)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ (धातु) (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive)

• पाण्डुम्: Pāṇḍu
• पाण्डुम्: Karma (कर्म/Object of स्मृत्वा)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; proper noun

• निपातितम्: brought down
• निपातितम्: Karma (कर्म/Object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि + पत् (धातु) (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘caused to fall/ruined’

• निवर्तयेत्: should desist/turn back
• निवर्तयेत्: Kriya (क्रिया/Predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि + वृत् (धातु) (णिच् causative)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; ‘should turn back/should desist’

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Kriya-viseshana (क्रियाविशेषण/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb) ‘likewise’

• क्रोधात्: from anger
• क्रोधात्: Hetu (हेतु/Cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्रोध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; cause ‘from/because of anger’

• अनुह्रादम्: Anuhrāda
• अनुह्रादम्: Karma (कर्म/Object of implied स्मृत्वा)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुह्राद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; proper noun

• हतात्मजम्: bereft of (his) son
• हतात्मजम्: Karma (कर्म/Object qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हत (कृदन्त from हन्) + आत्मज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: ‘whose son was slain’ / ‘having slain son’ (context: ‘bereft of son’)

Speakers

• Didactic instruction within the Markandeya Purana’s nīti/rājadharma discourse (speaker not specified in the provided excerpt)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Exempla (itihāsa-style)
• Self-restraint
• Consequences of desire and anger

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The Purāṇa teaches through remembered exemplars: desire can topple even the eminent, and anger can invert parental duty into violence—therefore restraint is a ruler’s (and person’s) safeguard.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Didactic-ethical narrative allusion; not pancalakṣaṇa.

What is the esoteric significance?

Pāṇḍu represents the fall of discrimination under craving; Anuhrāda represents the mind’s rage destroying its own ‘offspring’—good intentions and cultivated virtues.