Markandeya Purana
Also known as: Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Markandeya-Purana, Devi-Mahatmya (embedded), Durga Saptashati (embedded), Chandi Path (embedded)


A Sanskrit Purana framed as the teachings of the sage Markandeya, notable for embedding the Devi Mahatmya—the earliest comprehensive narrative of the Goddess as supreme. It combines cosmology, genealogies, ethical instruction, and goddess-centered mythic warfare.
Description
The Markandeya Purana is a classical Sanskrit compendium attributed to the seer Markandeya. Its contents range from cosmogony and cyclical dissolutions to royal duties, sages’ dialogues, and catalogues of beings across manvantaras. Centrally, it preserves the thirteen-chapter Devi Mahatmya (Durga Saptashati), in which the Goddess—appearing as Mahamaya, Durga, Chandi, and Kali—defeats paradigmatic demons including Mahishasura, Raktabija, and the brothers Shumbha and Nishumbha. This embedded text, framed by the tale of King Suratha and the merchant Samadhi guided by the sage Medhas, became a cornerstone of Shakta worship and festival liturgy (e.g., Navaratri). Beyond goddess narratives, the Purana surveys dharma for kings and householders, cyclical time, and cosmography, exemplifying the layered, encyclopedic nature of the Purana genre.
Historiography
The work survives in multiple regional recensions, with chapter counts and verse tallies varying among manuscripts. Scholars generally date the core compilation to late antiquity, with the Devi Mahatmya seen as a 5th–6th-century insertion or crystallization of earlier goddess traditions. The Devi Mahatmya (traditionally chapters 81–93) generated an extensive commentarial and ritual corpus and circulated independently as the Durga Saptashati/Chandi Path. As with other Puranas, textual fluidity, later accretions, and performance contexts complicate notions of a single fixed archetype.
Date Notes
Composite Purana with layered redactions; the embedded Devi Mahatmya (13 chapters) is often dated to c. 5th–6th century CE; transmission continued with regional recensions.
Symbols
Major Characters
- Markandeya
- Durga
- Vishnu
- Shiva
- Manu
Myths
- The Vision of the Cosmic Infant
- The Deluge and Pralaya
- The Devī Māhātmya: Durga and Mahishasura
- Kālī against Śumbha and Niśumbha
Facts
- The Devi Mahatmya (13 chapters) is embedded within the Markandeya Purana and is foundational for Shakta theology and liturgy.
- Traditional chapter counts hover around 137, with verse tallies near 9,000, varying by recension.
- The frame tale features King Suratha and the merchant Samadhi receiving instruction from the sage Medhas.
- Devi’s battles against Mahishasura, Raktabija, Shumbha, and Nishumbha structure the text’s central martial cycle.
- The work presents cosmogony, cyclical time (kalpas, manvantaras), and royal-dharmic instruction typical of Puranas.
- Devi Mahatmya is also known as Durga Saptashati or Chandi Path and circulates independently in ritual practice.
- The text reflects layered composition, with earlier materials and subsequent regional redactions.
- Hymnic sections address the Goddess as Narayani, source of creation, maintenance, and dissolution.
- Sapta Matrikas (Brahmani, Maheshvari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani, Chamunda) appear as Devi’s emanations in battle.
- Used widely in Navaratri festivals; recitation traditions assign specific chapters to specific days and rites.