Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 50, Shloka 38
Adhyaya 50 — Mind-Born Progeny, Svayambhuva Manu’s Lineage, and Brahmā’s Ordinance to Duḥsaha (Alakṣmī’s Retinue)
तथैवान्यो गृहे पुंसां दुःसहो नाम विश्रुतः ।
क्षुत्क्षामोऽधोमुखो नग्रश्चीरी काकसमस्वनः ॥
tathaivānyo gṛhe puṃsāṃ duḥsaho nāma viśrutaḥ | kṣutkṣāmo 'dhomukho nagraścīrī kākasamasvanaḥ ||
Cũng vậy, trong nhà của loài người lại có một kẻ khác, nổi danh với tên Duḥsaha. Bị đói hành hạ đến tiều tụy, mặt cúi gằm, trần truồng, khoác giẻ rách, và với giọng khàn như quạ, hắn hiện ra.
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FAQs
Duḥsaha is introduced as a visible embodiment of deprivation and degradation that can enter human dwellings—suggesting that neglect of dharma (order, cleanliness, right conduct, right offerings) invites tamasic conditions: squalor, hunger, shamelessness, and harsh speech.
Primarily Dharma/ācāra instruction by allegory rather than cosmography; secondarily touches Sarga-like motif (creation/emanation of a being) as a didactic device, but it is not a full sarga account.
The ‘downward face’ and crow-like voice symbolize consciousness pulled down by tamas—speech becomes inauspicious and mind turns earthward. The figure warns that inner impurity externalizes as disorder in one’s home and habits.