Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 58, Shloka 24

Adhyaya 58 — The Kurma-Form of Narayana: Mapping Bharata through Nakshatras, Regions, and Planetary Afflictions

Sanskrit

कावेरी ऋष्यमूकस्था नासिक्याश्चैव ये जनाः ।

शङ्खशुक्त्यादिवैदूर्यशैलप्रान्तचराश्च ये ॥

Transliteration

kāverī ṛṣyamūkasthā nāsikyāś caiva ye janāḥ | śaṅkhaśukty-ādi-vaidūrya-śaila-prānta-carāś ca ye ||

Translation

又列举迦维利地区之民、居于梨师耶牟迦者、那湿迦族之人，以及住在毗都利耶山脉边境（以贝壳、牡蛎/珍珠等闻名）之众。

Word by Word

• कावेरी: (those at) the Kāverī (river)
• कावेरी: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/स्थान-निर्देशः)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कावेरी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), एकवचन; नदी-नाम (proper name)

• ऋष्यमूकस्थाः: those dwelling at Ṛṣyamūka
• ऋष्यमूकस्थाः: Karta (कर्ता/उद्देश्य-निर्देशः)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋष्यमूक-स्थ (प्रातिपदिक); स्थ (धातु √स्था ‘to stand/dwell’)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन; सप्तमी-तत्पुरुषः: ‘ऋष्यमूके स्थाः’ (dwelling at Ṛṣyamūka)

• नासिक्याः: the Nāsikyas (people of Nāsik/Nāśikya)
• नासिक्याः: Karta (कर्ता/उद्देश्य-निर्देशः)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नासिक्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन (Vedic/epic variant ending -yāḥ for -yāḥ/-yāḥ; intended plural of नासिक्य ‘people of Nāśikya/Nāsik’)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-अव्यय (emphasis)

• ये: who/which
• ये: Karta (कर्ता/सम्बन्धक)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• जनाः: people
• जनाः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन

• शङ्खशुक्त्यादिवैदूर्यशैलप्रान्तचराः: those dwelling on the mountain-border of (the) Vaidūrya (range), (named) Śaṅkhaśukti etc.
• शङ्खशुक्त्यादिवैदूर्यशैलप्रान्तचराः: Karta (कर्ता/उद्देश्य-निर्देशः)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शङ्ख-शुक्ति-आदि-वैदूर्य-शैल-प्रान्त-चर (प्रातिपदिक); चर (धातु √चर् ‘to move/dwell’)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः: ‘शङ्खशुक्त्यादि-वैदूर्य-शैलस्य प्रान्ते चराः’ (dwelling on the slopes/edges of the Vaidūrya mountain called Śaṅkhaśukti etc.)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• ये: who
• ये: Karta (कर्ता/सम्बन्धक)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nominative), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम

Speakers

• Purāṇic narrator (catalogue style); specific interlocutors not indicated in the supplied excerpt

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Cosmography
• Sacred geography
• Mountains and regions
• Resource-marked landscapes

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

By tying peoples to rivers and mountains, the text frames human culture as embedded in sacred landscapes—places that shape ritual life, trade, and identity.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Cosmographical description supporting the Purāṇic world-picture; it is ancillary material that often accompanies Manvantara/vaṃśa contexts but is not itself genealogy.

What is the esoteric significance?

Mountains named with gem imagery (vaidūrya) and marine substances (śaṅkha, śukti) symbolically connect earth and ocean resources to a unified cosmic body.