Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 7, Shloka 13

Adhyaya 7 — Harishchandra Tested by Vishvamitra: The Gift of the Kingdom and the Pandava Curse-Backstory

Sanskrit

सो ’द्य मत्कार्मुकाक्षेप-विदीपितदिगन्तरैः ।

शरैर्विभिन्नसर्वाङ्गो दीर्घनिद्रां प्रवेक्ष्यति ॥

Transliteration

so ’dya matkārmukākṣepa-vidīpitadigantaraiḥ / śarair vibhinnasarvāṅgo dīrghanidrāṃ pravekṣyati

Translation

“今日，当我开弓放箭，那燃焰直达遥远天际的箭矢将遍体贯穿于他；他将入于长眠（即死亡）。”

Word by Word

• saḥ: he
• saḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (pronoun), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• adya: today, now
• adya: Kāla (काल/Time adjunct)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: adya (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb)

• mat-kārmuka-ākṣepa-vidīpita-dig-antaraiḥ: by the sky-regions lit up by the discharge of my bow
• mat-kārmuka-ākṣepa-vidīpita-dig-antaraiḥ: Karaṇa (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mad (प्रातिपदिक) + kārmuka (प्रातिपदिक) + ākṣepa (प्रातिपदिक) + vidīpita (कृदन्त, √dīp + vi) + dik (प्रातिपदिक) + antara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुपद-तत्पुरुष-समास (determinative chain): ‘my bow’s discharge/throw’ → ‘illumined’ → ‘directions’ → ‘intervals/quarters’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग (अन्तर), तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• śaraiḥ: with arrows
• śaraiḥ: Karaṇa (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन

• vibhinna-sarva-aṅgaḥ: with all limbs pierced/split
• vibhinna-sarva-aṅgaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vibhinna (कृदन्त, √bhid + vi) + sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + aṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष-प्रायः: ‘all limbs’ as object of ‘split’; पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• dīrgha-nidrām: long sleep
• dīrgha-nidrām: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dīrgha (प्रातिपदिक) + nidrā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय (descriptive: ‘long sleep’), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• pravekṣyati: will enter
• pravekṣyati: Kriyā (क्रिया/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-viś (धातु)
• Form: लृट् (Simple Future), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

Speakers

• Not identifiable from single-verse input (speaker is a warrior proclaiming the foe’s imminent death).

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "vira", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Kshatriya valor
• Inevitable death (mṛtyu as ‘sleep’)
• Poetic martial imagery

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse employs the common Sanskrit idiom ‘long sleep’ for death, underscoring the inevitability of mortality and the kṣatriya ethos of decisive action. Ethically, it reflects resolve (dhairya) and the certainty of karmic consequence in violent conflict.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

This is not primarily sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṁśa/vaṁśānucarita material; it aligns most closely (if at all) with vaṁśānucarita-style narrative events (episode-level storytelling) rather than cosmological or genealogical cataloguing.

What is the esoteric significance?

Martial ‘light’ imagery (arrows illuminating the horizons) symbolically links forceful intent with revelation: decisive action ‘lights up’ consequences. ‘Long sleep’ frames death as a transition, hinting at the cyclic view of embodied existence rather than annihilation.