Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 1, Shloka 44

Adhyaya 1 — Jaimini’s Questions on the Mahabharata and the Origin of the Wise Birds

Sanskrit

ब्रह्मा जनार्दनो वापि यदि वा नीललोहितः ।

तमप्यद्य करिष्यामि कामबाणक्षतान्तरण् ॥

Transliteration

brahmā janārdano vāpi yadi vā nīlalohitaḥ | tam apy adya kariṣyāmi kāmabāṇa-kṣatāntaram ||

Translation

“无论是梵天，或阇那尔达那（毗湿奴），乃至尼罗罗希多（鲁陀罗/湿婆）——即便是他——今日我也要使其除去迦摩之箭的创痕（即脱离欲望之伤）。”

Word by Word

• brahmā: Brahmā
• brahmā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• janārdanaḥ: Janārdana (Viṣṇu)
• janārdanaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janārdana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha/Connector (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात), disjunctive ‘or’

• api: even/also
• api: Sambandha/Emphasis (सम्बन्ध/बल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात), ‘also/even’

• yadi: if
• yadi: Hetu/Condition marker (हेतु/शर्त)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चय/शर्त), conditional ‘if’

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha/Connector (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात), disjunctive ‘or’

• nīla-lohitaḥ: Nīlalohita (Rudra)
• nīla-lohitaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nīla (प्रातिपदिक) + lohita (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; Karmadhāraya: ‘blue-and-red one’ (epithet of Śiva/Rudra)

• tam: him
• tam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

• api: even
• api: Sambandha/Emphasis (सम्बन्ध/बल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात), ‘even’

• adya: today/now
• adya: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (क्रियाविशेषण), temporal

• kariṣyāmi: I will make
• kariṣyāmi: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Simple future (लृट्), 1st person (उत्तमपुरुष), Singular, Parasmaipada

• kāma-bāṇa-kṣata-antaraṃ: one whose inner being is wounded by Love’s arrows
• kāma-bāṇa-kṣata-antaraṃ: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kāma (प्रातिपदिक) + bāṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + kṣata (कृदन्त; √kṣan/क्षन्? ‘to wound’, PPP ‘wounded’) + antara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; Tatpuruṣa: ‘having the interior wounded by Kāma’s arrows’ (कामबाणैः क्षतम् अन्तरं यस्य)

Speakers

• Uncertain from provided excerpt alone (verse is a first-person vow within the opening narrative)

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Brahmā
• Viṣṇu (Janārdana)
• Rudra/Śiva (Nīlalohita)
• Kāma (as the metaphorical archer of desire)

Key Themes

• Vairāgya (dispassion)
• Overcoming desire
• Ethical self-mastery
• Ascetic resolve
• Inner conquest as superior to outer power

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Even the highest cosmic offices—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra—are invoked to stress that the real ‘enemy’ is not a being but the piercing force of desire (kāma). The verse praises inner discipline: liberation is framed as removing the wound of craving rather than acquiring external dominion.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

This verse is not directly Sarga/Pratisarga/Manvantara/Vaṃśa/Vaṃśānucarita content; it functions as framing dialogue/ethical motivation that introduces the narrative movement. Indirectly, it supports the Purāṇic aim of dharma and vairāgya that contextualizes later genealogical and cosmological material.

What is the esoteric significance?

Kāma’s arrow is a classic symbol for vṛtti (mental modification) that ‘pierces’ awareness and produces bondage. The vow to make even great deities ‘free of the wound’ suggests the universality of māyā’s binding power and the superiority of knowledge and restraint over status—pointing to an inner yajña where desire is offered into the fire of discernment.