Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 90, Shloka 25

Adhyaya 90 — The Slaying of Shumbha and the Reabsorption of the Goddesses into Ambika

Sanskrit

उत्पातमेघाः सोल्का ये प्रागासंस्ते शमं ययुः ।

सरितो मार्गवाहिन्यस्तथासंस्तत्र पातिते ॥

Transliteration

utpāta-meghāḥ solkā ye prāg āsaṃs te śamaṃ yayuḥ /

sarito mārga-vāhinyas tathāsaṃs tatra pātite

Translation

先前出现、挟带凶兆并伴随流星的云团亦复平息；那些曾逆常道而流的诸河，在他于彼处被击倒时，皆归于正途。

Word by Word

• utpāta-meghāḥ: portentous clouds
• utpāta-meghāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: utpāta (उत्पात प्रातिपदिक) + megha (मेघ प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nom), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (utpātānāṃ meghāḥ)

• sa-ulkāḥ: with meteors/fiery bolts
• sa-ulkāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa (सह/स- उपसर्ग/पूर्वपद) + ulkā (उल्का प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘with meteors’ (सह-भाव) विशेषणम्

• ye: which
• ye: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (यद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• prāk: previously
• prāk: Kāla (काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prāk (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, कालवाचक (temporal adverb): ‘formerly/before’

• āsan: were
• āsan: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (अस् धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• te: those
• te: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद् सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; अनुवृत्त-कर्तृपद (those)

• śamam: calm, cessation
• śamam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śama (शम प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (Acc), एकवचन

• yayuḥ: went, subsided
• yayuḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yā (या धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• saritaḥ: rivers
• saritaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarit (सरित् प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nom), बहुवचन

• mārga-vāhinyaḥ: flowing in their proper channels
• mārga-vāhinyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mārga (मार्ग प्रातिपदिक) + vāhinī (वाहिनी प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष (mārgaṃ vahanti iti) विशेषणम्

• tathā: thus
• tathā: Prakāra (प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, प्रकारवाचक (manner adverb): ‘thus/so’

• āsan: were
• āsan: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (अस् धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक (locative adverb): ‘there’

• pātite: when (he) was brought down/slain
• pātite: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pat (पत् धातु) → pātita (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कृदन्त (past passive participle), सप्तमी एकवचन; ‘when (he) had been felled/slain’

Speakers

• Narrative voice within Devī Māhātmyam

Primary Deities

• Devī

Shakti Aspects

• Devī as harmonizer of nature

Key Themes

• Omens and cosmic disorder
• Nature restored
• Adharma as ecological/cosmic disturbance

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Moral disorder is mirrored as natural disorder; when adharma is removed, the world’s ‘courses’—social and ecological—return to proper alignment.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

A narrative sign of manvantara-level governance: portents mark imbalance in an age; their cessation indicates re-established stability.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Rivers returning to their paths’ symbolizes prāṇa and attention no longer diverted by destructive impulses, flowing again in disciplined channels.