Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 74, Shloka 31

Adhyaya 74 — King Svarashtra, the Deer-Queen’s Curse, and the Rise of Tamasa Manu

Sanskrit

मया चोक्तं मृगी नाहं मृगरूपधरा वने ।

लप्स्यसेऽन्यां मृगीन्तावन्मयि भावो निवर्त्यताम् ॥

Transliteration

mayā coktaṃ mṛgī nāhaṃ mṛgarūpadharā vane / lapsyase 'nyāṃ mṛgīṃ tāvan mayi bhāvo nivartyatām //

Translation

我说道：“我并非母鹿——我只是于林中暂取鹿形之人。你自会得到另一只母鹿；在那之前，请令你对我的情意止息。”

Word by Word

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karana (करण/agent-in-instrumental)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, instrumental (तृतीया) singular; agent in passive sense with 'uktam'

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चय), indeclinable

• uktam: was said
• uktam: Kriya (क्रिया/impersonal passive)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु) → ukta (कृदन्त)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त/PPP), neuter, nominative/accusative (प्रथमा/द्वितीया) singular; impersonal 'it was said'

• mṛgī: a doe
• mṛgī: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mṛgī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, nominative (प्रथमा) singular

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: Negation particle (निषेध-निपात)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, nominative (प्रथमा) singular

• mṛgarūpadharā: one bearing the form of a deer
• mṛgarūpadharā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mṛga + rūpa + dharā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, nominative (प्रथमा) singular; compound: mṛga-rūpa (षष्ठी/कर्मधारय-like) + dharā 'bearing' (उपपद-तत्पुरुष)

• vane: in the forest
• vane: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, locative (सप्तमी) singular

• lapsyase: you will obtain
• lapsyase: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: labh (धातु)
• Form: Future (लृट्), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष) singular; ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद)

• anyām: another
• anyām: Karma (कर्म/qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, accusative (द्वितीया) singular; qualifies 'mṛgīm'

• mṛgīm: a doe
• mṛgīm: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mṛgī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, accusative (द्वितीया) singular; object of 'lapsyase'

• tāvat: until then / meanwhile
• tāvat: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tāvat (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (परिमाण/काल), indeclinable; 'for so long/meanwhile'

• mayi: in me / toward me
• mayi: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, locative (सप्तमी) singular

• bhāvaḥ: feeling / attachment
• bhāvaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, nominative (प्रथमा) singular; subject of 'nivartyatām'

• nivartyatām: let it cease / be withdrawn
• nivartyatām: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ni-√vṛt (धातु)
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष) singular, passive (कर्मणि प्रयोग)

Speakers

• The afflicted woman/narrator speaks to the sage

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Self-identity vs imposed identity
• Detachment (vairāgya) as counsel
• Forest (vana) as liminal moral space

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Even under altered embodiment, the speaker asserts moral agency and attempts to redirect the other’s desire. The ethical stress is on restraining attachment (bhāva) and recognizing the difference between appearance (rūpa) and inner personhood.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

It functions as didactic narrative (vaṃśānucarita-style episode) illustrating dharma in interpersonal conduct, rather than a pancalakṣaṇa cosmological module.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Deer-form’ can symbolize the mind’s skittishness and vulnerability. The instruction to ‘turn back bhāva’ points to pratyāhāra-like withdrawal of fixation from a mistaken object.