Chapter 1 · Prathamo’dhyāyaḥ (First Chapter)
Verse 1–2
ॐ ऐं मार्कण्डेय उवाच ॥ १ ॥ सावर्णिः सूर्यतनयो यो मनुः कथ्यतेऽष्टमः। निशामय तदुत्पत्तिं विस्तराद् गदतो मम ॥ २ ॥
ōṁ aiṁ mārkaṇḍēya uvāca || 1 || sāvarṇiḥ sūryatanayō yō manuḥ kathyatē’ṣṭamaḥ | niśāmaya tadutpattiṁ vistarād gadatō mama || 2 ||
Translation
Please listen, as I narrate in detail, the origin of him who is spoken of as the eighth Manu, Savarni, the son of the Sun God.
Word by word
- sāvarṇiḥ
- Savarni
- sūryatanayaḥ
- the son of the sun god (Surya)
- yaḥ
- who
- manuḥ
- Manu
- kathyatē
- is spoken of
- aṣṭamaḥ
- the eighth
- niśāmaya
- please listen
- tat
- his
- utpattiṁ
- origin
- vistarād
- in detail
- gadataḥ
- narrating
- mama
- my
Meaning
Sage Markandeya addresses his listener (in the original context, a king named Suratha and a merchant named Samadhi) and introduces the subject of his narration. He states that he will now describe the origin story of the eighth Manu of the current cosmic cycle, named Savarni, who is destined to be the son of Surya, the sun god. This sets the stage for the story that follows, which is the divine play of the Goddess that leads to this event.