Markandeya Purana
[1][2] The text's title Markandeya refers to a sage in Sanatana Dharma, who is the central character in two legends, one linked to Shiva and other to Vishnu.
The text presents a diverse range of topics,[1][11][12] with socio-cultural information and symbolism for Vedic ideas and Metaphysical Thought.
[12] The earliest version of the Makandeya Purana, with Devi Mahatmya, was probably composed near the Narmada river, in Western India.
[19] The idea of Goddess as the supreme, states John Lochtefeld, likely existed before the 6th-century than the composition date of Devi Mahatmya, because it appears in so fully developed form in the text.
[23] A good translation of the Devi Mahatmya text within the Markandeya Purana, states Gregory Bailey, was published in 1991 by Thomas Coburn.
[9] The text opens with the Mimamsa founder Jaimini asking sage Markandeya for answers to some questions raised by the Mahabharata, but never addressed in it.
[25] Markandeya asserts that he needs to go and perform some Vedic rituals, and suggests Jaimini to meet up with four wise birds who live in the Vindhya range.
[25][26] This discussion weaves in moral instructions with mythology,[4] the theory of Karma, Samsara, Dharma and Shraddha verses from texts such as the Mahabharata and the Gautama Dharmasutras.
[25] The text presents its Yoga philosophy in chapters 39 to 43, and asserts that it is the path to gain self-knowledge and liberation (Moksha), thereby overcoming past Karma.
[4] The Devi Mahatmya opens with the legend of King Suratha, who was defeated in battle & exiled, and Samadhi, a merchant who was driven away by his wives & children for his wealth.
The Devi Mahatmya portion of this Purana describes the Goddess with theological and philosophical premises focussed on the feminine.
[11][12][32] Wendy Doniger states that the Markandeya Purana challenges some of the contextual assumptions about the medieval Indian society in 1st-millennium.
She writes, in her analysis of chapters 10 and 11 of the text which discusses its theory of embryo development and wherein the Purana asserts that woman's contribution to the development and the health of a fetus is essential:[a] The predominance of the father in the making of the body, that Manu insists upon, is here undercut not only by the role of the mother in contributing to the physical substance of the body, but also by the role of the embryo itself.
The Chandi Charitar Ukati Bilas in Dasam Granth – a secondary scripture of Sikhism, state Louis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod, is sourced from the Markandeya Purana.
