Bibek Debroy's translation of the Markandeya Purana animates Devi Mahatamya

The description of how the Shakti was born and how the evil was annihilated towers above the other highly erudite chapters on Yoga, Dharma and Karma

Of the 18 major Puranas or Maha-Puranas that Bibek Debroy has planned to translate, the Markandeya Purana is perhaps the most celebrated and also the shortest of all such Sanskrit texts that provide an account of various aspects of the Hindu religion and beliefs. 

Debroy began his journey of translating the Puranas with the Bhagavata Purana, which is believed to be the most popular and most revered because of its themes of spirituality and the celebration of Vishnu. And now he has completed the translation of the Markandeya Purana, which many Hindus as well as critics believe to be as important as the Bhagavad Gita because of its range and treatment of subjects as vast as Yoga, Dharma and Karma. 

Indeed, the Markandeya Purana is different from the Bhagavata Purana in many ways. It is not just popular, but it towers above all the other Puranas because it also celebrates Shakti, the feminine personification of power and energy to vanquish the evil. If the Bhagavata Purana was replete with the Sattva Guna (qualities of goodness, truth and positivity), the Markandeya Purana is dominated by the Rajas Guna (qualities of passion and activity). 

The Markandeya Purana; Translator: Bibek Debroy; Publisher: Penguin; Price: Rs 599; Pages: 464 Plus XXIV

There is another reason for which the Markandeya Purana has gained salience among the Hindus in the northern and eastern parts of India. Of its 134 chapters, just about a dozen focus on what is described as the Devi Mahatmya or the celebration of the Goddess. But the impact the Markandeya Purana creates because of this relatively small section is huge. Debroy himself recalls how as a child he would be witness to a rendering of parts of the Devi Mahatmya section at the residence of his grandparents. 

The Devi Mahatmya section also stands out for its exposition of feminine power. The disconcerting rise of the Asuras or demons, the Mahishasura among them being the principal enemy of gods, had to be checkmated by the gods by the creation of a feminine force — the Devi — to reclaim order and peace in the universe. The entire sequence of the rise of the Asuras and the advent of the Devi to annihilate the forces of evil is the sum and substance of the Devi Mahatmya section of the Markandeya Purana. 

This is a story with which most Hindus, including even non-believers, are familiar. But what they are not aware of is that the entire rendering of the rise of Shakti is recounted eloquently with telling appeal in the Markandeya Purana. It is Debroy’s translation that brings alive the drama, action and passion in the nature of the birth of Durga Shakti (a symbol of feminine power) and the killing of Mahishasura (the demon who took the physical form of a buffalo). 

Markandeya Purana. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

For those Indians who have had the privilege of listening to the legendary radio broadcaster, Birendra Krishna Bhadra’s rendering of Mahishasura Mardini on the dawn of Mahalaya, Debroy’s translation of the Devi Mahatmya section will provide an easy and accessible understanding of the original source material on the basis of which Bhadra produced that outstanding and popular radio programme several decades ago. 

The sequence of placing the Devi Mahatmya section in the Markandeya Purana is interesting from a sociological perspective as well. Debroy argues that this section may have been a later addition. This appears to be a convincing explanation because after those dozen chapters on Devi Mahatmya, the Markandeya Purana returns to a theme that was being explored in an earlier section. 

It is often argued that the apotheosis of woman as the source of energy and annihilation of the evil indicates the hierarchy that ancient Hindu beliefs had created for man and woman. The creation of Devi is likely to be celebrated as the recognition of power and place for women in ancient India. But the symbolism behind the action should not be ignored. It is the men, after being vanquished by the demons, who decide to create Shakti using the various attributes of different gods. Such a process defines how man decides when and how Shakti needs to be conceived to take on the evil forces. The patriarchal forces are still at work even in Devi Mahatmya that is ironically aimed at celebrating woman power. 

Debroy’s translation also questions the earlier interpretation that the Markandeya Purana completely lacked a sectarian presentation of ideas in favour of any particular god. According to Debroy, “this might generally be true, but it is not true of the Devi Mahatmya section.” Nobody can quarrel with that argument as the invocation of Shakti is nothing other than a prayer to a set of gods. 

The Devi Mahatmya section is so dominant in the entire Markandeya Purana that the themes of Yoga and Advaita Vedanta do not get the kind of attention that they deserve. Its reiteration that Yoga is a way of gaining self-knowledge and Moksha (liberation) by overcoming past Karma and the importance accorded to the non-dualistic premise of the supreme force expand on the age-old Indian traditions of self-discovery and learning through such practices. Equally interesting is the conversation that takes place between Markandeya and the birds to unravel the mysteries of the universe. But what towers above them all is the description of how the Shakti was born and how the evil was annihilated. In that sense, in spite of its many other highly erudite chapters on Yoga and Dharma, the Markandeya Purana will be mostly remembered for Devi Mahatmya.