Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 35, Shloka 17

Adhyaya 35 — Madālasa’s Instruction on Purity, Impurity, and Corrective Rites (Śauca and Aśauca)

Sanskrit

मृदम्बुभस्मना तात ! प्रोक्षितव्यं विशुद्धये ।

औदुम्बराणामम्लेन क्षारेण त्रपुसीसयोः ॥

Transliteration

mṛd-ambu-bhasmanā tāta prokṣitavyaṃ viśuddhaye /

audumbarāṇām amlenā kṣāreṇa trapu-sīsayoḥ //

Translation

Với đất sét, nước và tro, người ta nên rảy để tịnh hóa, hỡi người thân yêu. Đối với (gỗ) cây udumbara (cây sung), sự làm sạch là bằng chất chua; còn đối với thiếc và chì, sự làm sạch là bằng chất kiềm.

Word by Word

• mṛt-ambu-bhasmanā: with earth, water, and ash
• mṛt-ambu-bhasmanā: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mṛt (प्रातिपदिक) + ambu (प्रातिपदिक) + bhasman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Singular (एकवचन); collective instrument ‘with earth, water, and ash’

• tāta: dear one, son
• tāta: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (सम्बोधन/8), Singular (एकवचन)

• prokṣitavyam: should be sprinkled
• prokṣitavyam: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√ukṣ (उक्ष् धातु) + tavya (कृदन्त)
• Form: Gerundive/obligative (तव्यत्), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन); impersonal ‘it should be sprinkled’

• viśuddhaye: for purification
• viśuddhaye: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśuddhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Dative (चतुर्थी/4), Singular (एकवचन)

• audumbarāṇām: of (vessels/objects) of udumbara wood
• audumbarāṇām: Sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: audumbara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Plural (बहुवचन)

• amlena: with sour liquid/acid
• amlena: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: amla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Singular (एकवचन)

• kṣāreṇa: with alkali
• kṣāreṇa: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Singular (एकवचन)

• trapu-sīsayoḥ: of tin and lead
• trapu-sīsayoḥ: Sambandha (षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: trapu (प्रातिपदिक) + sīsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Dual (द्विवचन)

Speakers

• Instructional narrator within Dharma discourse (frame-speaker not explicit in provided excerpt)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Śauca (purity)
• Material science in ritual law (acid/alkali logic)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Purification employs appropriate means (yathā-dravya): the method must fit the substance—an ethic of precision and responsibility rather than mere formality.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Ācāra/dharma; not pancalakṣaṇa.

What is the esoteric significance?

Clay-water-ash represent the threefold balancing of heaviness (mṛd), flow (ambu), and transformative residue (bhasma)—a symbolic triad for stabilizing, cleansing, and neutralizing.