Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 45, Shloka 67

Adhyaya 45 — Jaimini’s Cosmological Questions and the Opening of Markandeya’s Account of Primary Creation

Sanskrit

दीपाद्यद्रिसमुद्राश्च राज्योतिर्लोकसंग्रहः ।

जलानिलानलाकाशैस्ततो भूतादिना बहिः ॥

Transliteration

dīpādyadrisamudrāś ca rājyotirlokasaṃgrahaḥ | jalānilānalākāśais tato bhūtādinā bahiḥ

Translation

其中有诸洲岛等、山岳与海洋，并有诸世界之布置与汇聚，具其光明与境域。其外复有水、风、火、空之层层包裹；更外又自诸“bhūta”（诸元素/众生基质）等起而延展。

Word by Word

• दीप-आदि-अद्रि-समुद्राः: islands etc., mountains, and oceans
• दीप-आदि-अद्रि-समुद्राः: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दीप + आदि + अद्रि + समुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचन; enumerative dvandva ‘islands etc., mountains, and oceans’

• च: and
• च: समुच्चय (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• राज्योतिः: the radiance of sovereignty
• राज्योतिः: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: राज् (धातु) + ज्योतिस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; तत्पुरुष ‘light/brightness of rule/kingdom’ (राज्यस्य ज्योतिः)

• लोकसंग्रहः: the ordering/aggregation of worlds
• लोकसंग्रहः: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक-संग्रह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन; तत्पुरुष ‘collection/ordering of worlds’

• जल-अनिल-अनल-आकाशैः: by water, wind, fire, and ether
• जल-अनिल-अनल-आकाशैः: करण (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल + अनिल + अनल + आकाश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया बहुवचन; instrumental plural dvandva of elements

• ततः: thereafter/from that
• ततः: अपादान/क्रम (Ablative sense/अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अपादान/क्रमबोधक (from there/thereafter)

• भूत-आदिना: with (things) beginning from the elements
• भूत-आदिना: करण (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूत + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया एकवचन; instrumental ‘beginning with the elements’

• बहिः: outside
• बहिः: अधिकरण (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: बहिः (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक अव्यय (adverb of place)

Speakers

• Cosmological narration within the Markandeya Purana’s discourse framework; speaker not explicitly marked here

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Geography of the world-system
• Elemental theory
• Cosmic layers (āvaraṇa)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The cosmos is depicted as ordered (saṃgraha), not chaotic; the intelligibility of the world is grounded in layered principles (from geography to elements).

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Sarga: mapping the created world and its elemental envelopes.

What is the esoteric significance?

The outward progression from worlds to elements mirrors meditative ‘withdrawal’ in reverse: one can contemplate dissolving gross structures into subtler layers.