Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 51, Shloka 63

Adhyaya 51 — Yaksha Injunctions: Graha-Children and Female Spirits Causing Domestic and Ritual Disruptions

Sanskrit

तौ तु वृक्षाग्र-परिखा-प्राकाराम्भोधि-संश्रयौ ।

गुर्विण्याः परिवर्तन्तौ कुरुतः पादपाणिषु ॥

Transliteration

tau tu vṛkṣāgra-parikhā-prākārāmbhodhi-saṃśrayau | gurviṇyāḥ parivartantau kurutaḥ pāda-pāṇiṣu ||

Translation

那二者投奔于树梢、壕沟、城垣与大海等处为依止。它们在孕妇腹中游走，使她的足与手遭受痛苦与折磨。

Word by Word

• तौ: those two
• तौ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; सर्वनाम

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात (particle)

• वृक्षाग्र-परिखा-प्राकार-अम्भोधि-संश्रयौ: having as refuge the treetop, moat, rampart, and ocean
• वृक्षाग्र-परिखा-प्राकार-अम्भोधि-संश्रयौ: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वृक्ष-अग्र (प्रातिपदिक) + परिखा (प्रातिपदिक) + प्राकार (प्रातिपदिक) + अम्भोधि (प्रातिपदिक) + संश्रय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुपद-समासः (समाहार/द्वन्द्व-प्रायः) ‘वृक्षाग्र-परिखा-प्राकार-अम्भोधि’ इत्येषु संश्रयः यस्य/ययोः; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; विशेषण

• गुर्विण्याः: of the pregnant woman
• गुर्विण्याः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुर्विणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

• परिवर्तन्तौ: transforming/turning
• परिवर्तन्तौ: Karta (कर्ता/Agent participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि√वृत्/√वर्त् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमान-कृदन्त (शतृ/शानच्-प्रत्यय; present participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), द्विवचन; ‘turning/transforming’

• कुरुतः: they make/do
• कुरुतः: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कृ (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), द्विवचन; परस्मैपद

• पाद-पाणिषु: in/into (her) feet and hands
• पाद-पाणिषु: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाद (प्रातिपदिक) + पाणि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः द्वन्द्व (pādau ca pāṇī ca); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), बहुवचन

Speakers

• Narrative voice within the dharma/omen discourse

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Omens
• Auspicious/inauspicious signs
• Embodiment of adharma as disturbance
• Household safety

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The text frames certain disruptive forces as ‘seeking refuge’ in liminal or dangerous places (tree-tops, moats, ramparts, ocean)—locations associated with risk and separation—mirroring how adharma drives beings to precarious supports and causes suffering even before birth.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

This is ancillary to Vaṃśānucarita, used for didactic dharma. It is not cosmogenesis but moralized narrative explaining the presence of harmful beings and the signs by which they are known.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘liminal refuges’ can be read as symbolic of unstable mental states (high/low extremes, defensive walls, vast waters of fear). The womb-disturbance suggests that karmic tendencies can agitate embodiment from the earliest stage.