Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 8, Shloka 22

Adhyaya 8 — Vasu's Redemption

Sanskrit

राजन् जातमपत्यं मे इत्युक्त्वा प्ररुरोद ह ।

बाष्पाम्बुप्लुतनेत्रान्तामुवाचेदं महीपतिः ॥

Transliteration

rājan jātam apatyaṃ me ity uktvā praruroda ha |

bāṣpāmbu-pluta-netrāntām uvāca idaṃ mahīpatiḥ ||

Translation

她说道：“大王啊，我生下了一个孩子。”说罢便放声而泣。随后，君主对这位泪盈满眶、泪水溢出的女子说了如下言辞。

Word by Word

• rājan: O king
• rājan: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• jātam: born
• jātam: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jan (धातु) → jāta (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृदन्त (PPP), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• apatyam: child, offspring
• apatyam: Karma (कर्म/quoted content)
• Type: Noun
• Root: apatya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• me: my
• me: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन (enclitic genitive: my)

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/quotative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इत्यादि-उद्धरणसूचक (quotative)

• uktvā: having said
• uktvā: Kriya (क्रिया/पूर्वकर्म)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vac (धातु) → uktvā (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (gerund), पूर्वकालिक (having said)

• praruroda: wept, cried
• praruroda: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: rud (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद; प्र-उपसर्ग

• ha: indeed
• ha: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; स्मरण/वृत्तान्तसूचक-निपात (indeed/it is said)

• bāṣpa-ambu-pluta-netra-antām: her whose eye-corners were flooded with tears
• bāṣpa-ambu-pluta-netra-antām: Karma (कर्म/object of uvāca)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bāṣpa + ambu + pluta + netra + anta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (eyes' corners flooded with tear-water)

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• idam: this
• idam: Karma (कर्म/thing said)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (this)

• mahīpatiḥ: the king
• mahīpatiḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahī + pati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (lord of the earth)

Speakers

• Narrator describing an exchange; the mahīpati (king) speaks to a tearful woman (contextual interlocutor not named in the verse).

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Grief and attachment
• Royal duty and response to domestic crisis
• Human emotion in Purāṇic narrative

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse foregrounds the immediacy of human attachment (to offspring and outcomes) and the way intense emotion can frame subsequent ethical choices. Purāṇic narratives often use such scenes to show how dharma must be upheld even when the mind is shaken by sorrow or fear.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

This is best classified under Vaṃśānucarita (accounts of royal/person line narratives) in a broad sense, since it is episodic storytelling about a king and household circumstance rather than cosmological sarga/pratisarga or manvantara chronology.

What is the esoteric significance?

Tears (bāṣpa) and the ‘flooded eyes’ motif can function symbolically as avidyā-born moha (delusion/attachment) obscuring clear vision. The king’s ensuing speech suggests the re-entry of discriminative order (rāja-dharma/buddhi) into a scene dominated by emotional overflow.