Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 57, Shloka 36

Adhyaya 57 — The Ninefold Divisions of Bharata: Mountains, Rivers, and Peoples

Sanskrit

अपरान्ताश्च शूद्राश्च पल्लवाश्चर्मखण्डिकाः ।

गान्धारा गबलाश्चैव सिन्धुसौवीरमद्रकाः ॥

Transliteration

aparāntāś ca śūdrāś ca pallavāś carmakhaṇḍikāḥ /

gāndhārā gabalāś caiva sindhusauvīramadrakāḥ //

Translation

又提到阿婆罗安多、首陀罗、帕拉婆与恰尔摩坎迪迦；并及犍陀罗、伽婆罗，以及信度—苏毗罗—摩陀罗迦诸民。

Word by Word

• aparāntāḥ: Aparāntas
• aparāntāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aparānta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural; proper name (people/region)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction

• śūdrāḥ: Śūdras
• śūdrāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śūdra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural; proper name/group

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction

• pallavāḥ: Pallavas
• pallavāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pallava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural; proper name (people)

• carmakhaṇḍikāḥ: Carmakhaṇḍikas
• carmakhaṇḍikāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: carma (प्रातिपदिक) + khaṇḍika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural; proper name/group (lit. ‘leather-piece people’)

• gāndhārāḥ: Gāndhāras
• gāndhārāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gāndhāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural; proper name (people)

• gabalāḥ: Gabalas
• gabalāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gabala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural; proper name (people)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction

• eva: indeed/also
• eva: Sambandha-bodhaka (सम्बन्धबोधक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Emphatic particle (अवधारण-निपात)

• sindhusauvīramadrakāḥ: Sindhus, Sauvīras, and Madrakas
• sindhusauvīramadrakāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sindhu (प्रातिपदिक) + sauvīra (प्रातिपदिक) + madraka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural; copulative list-name of three groups

Speakers

• Catalogue narration (speaker not determinable from excerpt alone)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Ethnography
• Frontier geography
• Cultural mapping

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

By incorporating many peoples into a single descriptive horizon, the Purāṇic view implicitly recognizes a broad civilizational space where dharma can be articulated across diverse lands.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Geography/ethnography; not a direct pancalakṣaṇa passage.

What is the esoteric significance?

Lists of ‘many peoples’ can be read as the many tendencies (vāsanās) within a person; ordering and naming them is the first step toward governance by dharma (self-rule).