Shloka 56

Origins of the Maruts — Origins of the Maruts Across the Manvantaras (Pulastya–Narada Dialogue)

Devanagari script

तामसस्यान्तरे ये च मरुतो ऽप्यभवन् पुरा तानहं कीर्तयिष्यामि गीतनृत्यकलिप्रिय

Transliteration

tāmasasyāntare ye ca maruto 'pyabhavan purā tānahaṃ kīrtayiṣyāmi gītanṛtyakalipriya

Translation

And the Maruts who existed formerly in the Manvantara of Tāmasa—those I shall now recount, O one fond of song, dance, and sportive play.

Speakers

• Narrator/teacher voice addressing the listener with an epithet (“fond of song and dance”); exact named interlocutors not explicit in the excerpt.

Primary Deities

• Maruts

Key Themes

• Purāṇic recitation style (kīrtana)
• Manvantara succession (Tāmasa)
• Cataloguing deity-classes

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

Why does the speaker use a poetic address like “fond of song and dance”?

Purāṇic narration frequently uses affectionate epithets to maintain a performative, oral-recitation atmosphere. It frames the cosmological catalogue as a ‘kīrtana’—a proclaimed tradition—rather than a dry list.

Does “kali” here mean the Kali-yuga?

In this compound (gīta-nṛtya-kali-priya), kali is best read as ‘sport, play, amusement’—a common sense of kali in classical Sanskrit—rather than the specific cosmic age (Kali-yuga).

What is the function of introducing the Tāmasa Manvantara here?

The text is moving sequentially through Manvantaras, indicating that each Manu’s era has distinct sets of Maruts. This supports the Purāṇic model of cyclical cosmic administration.