Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 57, Shloka 5

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

Sanskrit

मार्कण्डेय उवाच भारतस्यास्य वर्षस्य नव भेदान्निबोध मे ।

समुद्रान्तरिता ज्ञेयास्ते त्वगम्याः परस्परम् ॥

Transliteration

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca bhāratasyāsya varṣasya nava bhedān nibodha me / samudrāntaritā jñeyās te tv agamyāḥ parasparam

Translation

摩尔迦ṇḍeya说道：“当从我处学习此婆罗多伐尔沙（Bhārata-varṣa）的九种分区。须知它们为诸海所隔，彼此不能相通。”

Word by Word

• mārkaṇḍeyaḥ: Mārkaṇḍeya
• mārkaṇḍeyaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mārkaṇḍeya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; speaker name

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (क्रिया/predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (धातु)
• Form: Luṅ (लुङ्, Aorist), Parasmaipada, 3rd Person, Singular

• bhāratasya: of Bhārata
• bhāratasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhārata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• asya: of this
• asya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• varṣasya: of the region (varṣa)
• varṣasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• nava: nine
• nava: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: (Numeral) indeclinable-like adjective; here qualifying bhedān (Acc. pl.)

• bhedān: divisions
• bhedān: Karma (कर्म/object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bheda (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Plural

• nibodha: know/understand
• nibodha: Kriyā (क्रिया/predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-√budh (धातु)
• Form: Loṭ (लोट्, Imperative), Parasmaipada, 2nd Person, Singular

• me: from me / for you (listen to me)
• me: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान/recipient)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Singular; enclitic pronoun

• samudra-antaritāḥ: separated by oceans
• samudra-antaritāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: samudra + antarita (प्रातिपदिक); समास
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; tatpuruṣa (तृतीया-तत्पुरुषः: समुद्रेण अन्तरिताः = separated by the ocean)

• jñeyāḥ: are to be known
• jñeyāḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया/predicate)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jñā (धातु) + ya (य)
• Form: Gerundive/obligatory participle (तव्यत्/यत्-भावः; here -य), Masculine, Nominative, Plural; predicative

• te: they/those
• te: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; demonstrative pronoun

• tu: indeed
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; emphatic particle

• agamyāḥ: inaccessible
• agamyāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: a + gamya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural; negative adjective (अगम्य = inaccessible)

• parasparam: to one another / mutually
• parasparam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: paraspara (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक used adverbially)
• Form: Avyaya; reciprocal adverb (परस्परम्)

Speakers

• Mārkaṇḍeya to Krausṭuki

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Sacred Geography
• Navabheda (ninefold division)
• Oceans as boundaries
• Cosmic ordering of human world

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Human worlds are portrayed as bounded and differentiated; dharma is practiced within concrete limits (deśa-kāla), and recognizing boundaries is part of wise action and social order.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

This is classic Purāṇic cosmography (bhūgola) under 'Sarga'—description of the earth’s divisions and their separations.

What is the esoteric significance?

Seas as separators can symbolize the ‘ocean’ of saṃsāra dividing states of experience; crossing is nontrivial—hinting that transitions between existential conditions require extraordinary means (sādhana/puṇya).