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

以泥土、水与灰，应当洒净以作清净之法，卿所爱者。至于优昙婆罗（无花果树）之木，当以酸性之物洗净；而锡与铅，则当以碱性之剂净除。

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.