Stories From The Markandeya Purana

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From the Jacket

The eighteen major Puranas are the Brahma, Padma, Visnu, Siva, Linga, Garuda, Narada, Bhagavata, Agni, Skanda, Bhavisya, Brahma-vaivarta, Markandeya, Vamana, Varaha, Matsya, Kurma and Brahmanda Puranas.

The Brahma Purana consists of ten thousand verses, the Padma Purana of fifty-five thousand, Sri Visnu Purana of twenty-three thousand, the Siva Purana of Twenty-four thousand and Srimad-Bhagavatam of eighteen thousand.

The Narada Purana has twenty-five thousand verses, the Markandeya Purana nine thousand, the Agni Purana fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhavisya Purana fourteen thousand five hundred, the Brahma-vaivarta Purana eighteen thousand and the Linga Purana eleven thousand. The Varaha Purana contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda Purana eighty-one thousand one hundred, the ‘Vamana Purana ten thousand, the Kurma Purana ten thousand, the Kurma Purana seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purana fourteen thousand, the Garuda Purana nineteen thousand and the Brahmanda Purana twelve thousand. Thus the total number of verses in all the Puranas is four hundred thousand. Eighteen thousand of these, once again, belong to the beautiful Bhagavatam.

It is known that of the eighteen major Puranas, six are for those in the mode of goodness, six are for those in the mode of passion, and six are for those in the mode of ignorance. Although there may be different opinions as to which Puranas belong to which group, Srila Prabhupada writes as follows in a purport of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta:

The Rg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Atharva Veda, Mahabharata, Pancaratra and original Ramayana are all considered Vedic literature. The Puranas (such as the Brahma-vaivarta Purana, Naradiya Purana, Visnu Purana and Bhagavata Purana) are especially meant for Vaisnavas and are also Vedic literature.

Back of the Book

Markandeya Purana beings with the sage Jaimini asking four questions: “Why did Lord Vasudeva, the original creator, maintainer and destroyer of the universe, who is devoid of material qualities, assume a humanlike for toe descend upon the earth and engage in pastimes there with His devotees? For what reason did Krsna, the daughter of King Drupada, become the common wife of the five Pandavas? This is certainly a very unusual occurrence that makes us truly perplexed. How is it that Lord Baladeva, the first expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, went on a tour of holy places of pilgrimage so as to become freed from the sin of killing a brahmana? And, how was it that Draupada’s five unmarried sons were killed after the great battle at Kuruksetra, as if they had no protector?”

The answers to these questions give us much information of the former lives and activities of familiar personalities and thus fills in the gaps of chains of events. A common theme of the Puranas is that the events and circumstances of a particular person are the results of the activities he performed in previous lives, just as the acts that he performs in his present life will determine his future birth and activities. So the question about Draupadi marrying five husbands is answered by giving us a view of the past to see the circumstances that led to that unusual marriage.

Markandeya Purana

Markandeya Purana is one of the eighteen principal Puranas, as stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (SB 12.7.23-24): The eighteen major Puranas are the Brahma, Padma, Visnu, Siva, Linga, Garuda, Narada, Bhagavata, Agni, Skanda, Bhavisya, Brahma-vaivarta, Markandeya, Vamana, Varaha, Matsya, Kurma and Brahmanda Puranas.

In the Twelfth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam it is also written: The Brahma Purana consists of ten thousand verses, the Padma Purana of fifty-five thousand, Sri Visnu Purana of twenty-three thousand, the Siva Purana of twenty-four thousand and Srimad-Bhagavatam of eighteen thousand. The Narada Purana has twenty-five thousand verses, the Markandeya Purana nine thousand, the Agni Purana fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhavisya Purana fourteen thousand five Linga Purana eleven thousand. The Varaha Purana contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda Purana eighty-one thousand one hundred, the Vamana Purana ten thousand, the Kurma Purana seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purana fourteen thousand, the Garuda Purana nineteen thousand and the Brahmanda Purana twelve thousand. Thus the total number of verses is all the Puranas is four hundred thousand.

Srila Prabhupada has said: “There are men in the modes of goodness, passion, and ignorance, and to reclaim all these conditioned souls, there are eighteen Puranas. Six Puranas are meant for those in the mode of goodness, six for those in the mode of passion, and six for those in the mode of ignorance. The Padma Purana is written for those in the mode of ignorance. Because there are many different types of men, there are many different Vedic rituals. In the Vedic literatures there are descriptions of rituals and ceremonies in which a goat may be sacrificed in the goddess Kali. This is described in the Markandeya Purana, but this Purana is meant for the instruction for those in the mode of ignorance.”

After reading this, you might be thinking, “Since the Markandeya Purana is meant for those in the mode of ignorance, it’s not for me.” Of course, Markandeya Purana is not meant to be the final authority for you, or anyone else associated with ISKCON, even tangentially. Still, Markandeya Purana is full of interesting stories that give us glimpses of bygone ages, and it also provides interesting explanations of why certain events occurred.

Markandeya Purana beings with the sage Jaimini asking four questions: “Why did Lord Vasudeva, the original creator, maintainer and destroyer of the universe, who is devoid of material qualities, assume a humanlike for to descend upon the earth and engage in pastimes there with His devotees? For what reason did Krsna, the daughter of King Drupada, become the common wife of the five Pandavas? This is certainly a very unusual occurrence that makes us truly perplexed. How is it that Lord Baladeva, the first expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, went on a tour of holy places of pilgrimage so as to become freed from the sin of killing a brahmana? And, how was it that Draupadi’s five unmarried sons were killed after the great battle at Kuruksetra, as if they had no protector?”

The answers to these questions give us much information of the former lives and activities of familiar personalities and thus fills in the gaps of chains of events. A common theme of the Puranas is that the events and circumstances of a particular person are the results of the activities he performed in previous lives, just as the acts that he performs in his present life will determine his future birth and activities. So the question about Draupadi marrying five husbands is answered by giving us a view of the past to see the circumstances that led to that unusual marriage.

Besides this, the reading of the various Puranas gives us new slants on familiar stories. Details that were not mentioned in the Purana are revealed in another.

I have written this telling of the Markandeya Purana with emphasis on the stories and have omitted most of the lengthy prayers and elaborate instructions about performing various rituals. Everything is streamlined to make for interesting reading, because, after all, there is no need to make a detailed study of Markandeya Purana. For those who wish to make some kind of detailed study, that propensity should be used for studying Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Dear reader, I hope you are entertained by this book and I am also confident that you will find some words of wisdom as well.