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THE STORY OF  SAGE  MARKANDEYA (By  Thodupuzha K Shankar )

Published on 25 October, 2016
THE  STORY OF  SAGE  MARKANDEYA (By  Thodupuzha K Shankar )
 Markandeya was a great sage who was responsible for the creation of one of the ASHTADASHA PURANAS. Markandeya’s father’s name was Mukandu who was the son of Vidhata and Niyathi. Vedasiras was the son of Markandeya and Dhumarna was the consort of Markandeya. During the discussion about birds with the scholarly sages , Jaimini, the disciple of sage Vyasa (Jaimini suthras is well known) asked many questions and the topic was, the various aspects of Dharma and Adharma. Devimahatmyam is a part of the collection consisting of nine thousand hymns or slokas. This is important from the Rajasaguna point of view. The story of Markandeya is described below:

        It was after waiting for a fairly long time that Markandeya was born to Mukandu who performed a ritual to propitiate Lord Shiva. But, the initially simple ritual automatically turned into an austere penance in course of time. With the result, Lord Shiva made his gracious presence before him and asked him:

        ”Mukandu, I am fully convinced of your devotion to me and your intense agony for want of a child. Now, tell me clearly one thing:

              Whether you want a son with long life or a son  with a short life”?  Then, Mukandu replied politely,

        “Lord, Your divine self knows, everyone will definitely aspire for a longevous  son only. At this point Lord Shiva elucidated his question:

         ” In case you want a scholarly son, endowed with all the virtuous qualities, remember,  he will live for only sixteen years. But if you get a son with all the evil qualities, he will live for one thousand years. So choice is yours”.

         At this question of Lord Shiva, Mukandu was so much confused and confounded, but, pondered for a moment and perceived the importance of the fact as to, how long one lives is immaterial,  but, how intelligently and ethically he lives is more important. The bestowed human birth becomes meaningful only when one lives a worthy life. So, after musing well for some time, Mukandu replied in all humility :

        “Lord, please bless me with a virtuous son endowed with all noble traits and ethical qualities, nevertheless, he will be short lived”. Lord Shiva immensely pleased with his reply, instantly blessed him with a son and disappeared.


        Afterwards, it was very difficult for Mukandu to control his agony over the thought of the short life of the son to be born to him. the sudden demise or departure of a virtuous soul will sadden anybody.

        Before long, the offspring,  granted by Lord Shiva, entered the world reciting the holy hymns all the while. Mukandu very fondly named him ‘MARKANDEYA’. By virtue of his clairvoyance and perspicacity, Markandeya  could garner all the praises and admirations of his masters. His selfless and benevolent acts always impressed all and shed the brilliance of ethereal pleasure around all the while.

        Nevertheless, his parents always sank in deep despair and sat silently sulking over the painful thought of Markandeya’s impending premature death as ordained by Lord Shiva while benevolently granting the boon of a son with short life which they had never  disclosed to Markandeya as they didn’t intend to agonize him with their dilemmatic situation. But, Markandeya, by virtue of his instant, intuitive power of  discerning everything, could easily trace the cause of the agony mirrored on their faces. Nonetheless, he enquired about the cause of their anguish. At this juncture, they burst into tears and explained to him the whole episode of his birth and of the shadow of the  premature death closely trailing behind him.  So Markandeya came to know of the cause behind their perennial agony. They told him succinctly,  ”Your life granted by Lord Shiva is  for sixteen  years only  that you will be separated from us by destiny at your adolescence. Now ,everything is predetermined by Lord Shiva. This is our predicament”.

        Then, they started wailing bitterly in inconsolable sorrow.    Upon hearing this sorrowful tale behind his birth, he left the house, visibly moved  and perturbed not over his short life but due to the  agony of his parents over his short life now staring and grimacing at them. Markandeya then swiftly wore his Rudrakshamala (a coral chain or rosary of red beads) and also took the other materials such as an ascetic staff (dand) and an ochre pot called Kamandalam)  imperative for a sage and straight away reached the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Shiva. He then started his austere penance duly observing all the requisite formalities. Gradually, he stopped taking  water also as he progressed in his penance.

        Days, weeks, months and years passed in quick succession and finally the day of his 16th birthday arrived filling awe, dismay and anxiety in everyone’s mind. Meanwhile, on the appointed date, Yamaraja was getting ready to  take Markandeya along with him to his mysterious world. In case of any delay or lapse on his part, it amounts to dereliction of duty and he would be answerable to his superior Gods. His vehicle, the buffalo, was also positioned and stationed at a respectable distance.

        At first, the subordinates of Yamaraja  forged ahead to grab him and escort him to the world of death. But, as they advanced towards him, they experienced the extreme heat being emitted  from Markandeya’s austere penance that ignited the whole area and made them feel an  extreme burning sensation. So, they finally relented and retreated in awe and confusion. At this critical juncture, Yamaraja personally  took over the responsibility and moved forward to confront Markandeya who instantly recognized his  foot movements very distinctly. He then started praying to Lord Shiva intensely, not for any further extension of his life term, but, only for removing the haunting agony of his parents over his short life.

       Deeply engrossed in his prayers, he embraced the Shivalinga firmly with utmost devotion. Then the eye of the linga opened instantly and the rope around him, got,  on its own, \ tightened around the Shivalinga too. And soon Yama was also in the trap. Either he should take Markandeya along with Shivalinga or quit the place immediately. Meanwhile, Yama got entangled in the sight of  the Shivalinga. He could neither hold on there nor run away from the scene relinquishing the idea.

        Now the embracing Markandeya is on one side and the bowing Yama on the other side. While the former is so tight, the latter is so loose. Meanwhile, the Lord by winking His third eye, turned Yama to ashes in a split second with his full knowledge. But, one may wonder as to how it happened? 

       Afterwards,Markandeya returned home  with the blessings of Lord Shiva,  feeling triumphant over Yama, the God of death. He also carried with him the blessing that he would live as a sixteen year old as long as the universe exists.  His parents as well as the people around them, exalted over Markandeya’s unique victory over death.  

       But, the sudden extinction of the God of death posed several problems and hazards for the people with everyone living beyond the  average life expectancy. There was total imbalance between the  birth and death rates. Deathlessness resulted in overcrowding in every family which in turn caused space constraints everywhere. This predicament was experienced all over the world. There was growing unrest among the people that they started praying and propitiating all Gods and Goddesses for the restoration of death. Even the young couple prayed Gods not to grant them any progeny as they had to look after their parents as their own children. In short, people were appalled at the consequential anarchy created by the existence of many generations  in the same family.

        In the face of the realistic situation, the host of Devas, started fervently appealing to Lord Shiva to restore Yamaraj to address their spectacular grievance of deathlessness. Lord Shiva convinced of the conspicuous anarchic situation, restored life to Yama and  thus found a permanent solution to their longstanding problem.

         Markandeya continued his tireless penance with staunch faith and sense of dedication which really caused discomfiture to Indra and landed him in a state of utter confusion.  With the result, he played his 19th trick by sending a batch of nymphs to his hermitage to entice him and cause disruption to his austere penance. Nevertheless, Markandeya remained unperturbed and continued his penance unsullied. He was neither allured nor emotionally agitated at the sight of their physical charm or enticing tactics.  Ultimately, Devendra surrendered and admitted his defeat and withdrew from his unethical game altogether.

        Markandeya’s praises  of Mahavishnu -Vishnu Sthuthi- are  very famous and the Lord blessed h im for his dedication. Lord Shiva also appeared before him with his consort  Goddess Parvathi and blessed him. Markandeya made the ministry of Dharmaputhra more resplendent with his august presence and kept on giving his advices on administration with the application of Dharma. He praised and meditated on Goddess Saraswathi on the banks of the river Payoshni. He even consoled Bhishmacharya who was lying on the bed of arrows. He even discussed with sage Narada about the unethical practice of consuming fish and flesh by human beings.

       Reading of Markandeya Purana in the month of Karthika (Nov/Dec) is believed to be a very virtuous practice.  Amazingly, Markandeya and his mythological works are well known and they too continue to be ever green sixteen as he is always, over the years. Markandeya leaves behind, the moral that anything can be achieved with strong determination, dedication, diligence and unremitting perseverance.

                                   
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Prabhakaran 2016-11-04 21:28:35
I am blessed that I was given the opportunity to read this interesting story.  Good work and I convey our appreciation.
മലയാളത്തില്‍ ടൈപ്പ് ചെയ്യാന്‍ ഇവിടെ ക്ലിക്ക് ചെയ്യുക