Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 10, Shloka 86

Adhyaya 10 — Jaimini’s Questions on Birth, Death, Karma, and the Embodied Journey

Sanskrit

ततः सर्वेषु निस्तीर्णः पापी तिर्यक्त्वमश्नुते ।

कृमिकीटपतङ्गेषु श्वापदे मशकादिषु ॥

Transliteration

tataḥ sarveṣu nistīrṇaḥ pāpī tiryakatvam aśnute | kṛmi-kīṭa-pataṅgeṣu śvāpade maśakādiṣu ||

Translation

随后，在经历了这一切地狱之后，罪人便获得畜生之身——投生于蠕虫、昆虫与飞蛾之类；又投生于野兽、蚊蚋等诸类之中。

Word by Word

• ततः: thereafter; from that (cause/time)
• ततः: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (Avyaya), अपादान/क्रमसूचक-क्रियाविशेषण (ablatival adverb: “thereafter/from that”)

• सर्वेषु: in all (of them)
• सर्वेषु: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (सर्व-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), बहुवचन (plural); विशेषण (locative: “in all/among all”)

• निस्तीर्णः: having crossed over; having passed through
• निस्तीर्णः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि√तॄ (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि/भूतकृत् क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; “having crossed/escaped”

• पापी: the sinner
• पापी: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpin (पापिन्-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्तृवाचक (agent noun: sinner)

• तिर्यक्त्वम्: animal state; being a beast
• तिर्यक्त्वम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tiryaktva (तिर्यक्त्व-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन; कर्मपद (object)

• अश्नुते: attains; undergoes
• अश्नुते: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √अश् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; “attains/experiences”

• कृमि-कीट-पतङ्गेषु: among worms, insects, and moths/flies
• कृमि-कीट-पतङ्गेषु: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृमि (प्रातिपदिक) + कीट (प्रातिपदिक) + पतङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वन्द्व-समास (copulative), पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), बहुवचन; “among worms, insects, and flying insects”

• श्वापदे: among wild beasts
• श्वापदे: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śvāpadá (श्वापद-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (collective), सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; “among wild beasts”

• मशक-आदिषु: among mosquitoes and the like
• मशक-आदिषु: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maśaka (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (आदि-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (ādi = “etc.”; maśakādi = “mosquito etc.”), पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), बहुवचन

Speakers

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Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Saṃsāra
• Karma
• Rebirth
• Ethics

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Karma shapes not only pleasure and pain but the very capacity for agency: lower births restrict freedom, urging one to use human life to cultivate dharma and clarity.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Supports dharma/saṃsāra teaching; indirectly related to pratisarga (cycles of manifestation) insofar as it describes transmigration across forms.

What is the esoteric significance?

The list of small creatures symbolizes contraction of consciousness—when awareness is narrowed by harmful tendencies, experience becomes confined to instinct and survival.