Markandeya

Quick Facts

About Markandeya

The immortal sage who conquered death itself through devotion to Shiva, blessed to remain forever sixteen. He visited the Pandavas in their forest exile and consoled them with ancient tales - of Rama, of Savitri, and of worlds dissolved and reborn.

In Their Words

I have watched the universe dissolve and form again - your sorrows too shall pass.

Markandeya

Traits

• Immortal
• Storyteller
• Devout
• Ancient

Story Appearances

• Chitrangada of ManipuraThe bride whose son stays home

Stories Featuring Markandeya

49 further tales on this site name Markandeya, in canonical reading order.

• Draupadi's Trials in ExileThe Sari, the Sage, and a Question to a QueenVana Parva ‧ 24 min
• Savitri and the Lord of DeathThe Wife Who Argued Yama Into DefeatVana Parva ‧ 28 min
• The Story of RamaThe Tale Markandeya Told in the ForestVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Slayer of the Sand-DemonKuvalashva and the Demon DhundhuVana Parva ‧ 8 min
• The Birth of the War-GodSkanda and the Slaying of TarakaVana Parva ‧ 10 min
• The Fish and the FloodManu and the Great DelugeVana Parva ‧ 9 min
• The Child on the Cosmic WatersMarkandeya's Vision of the World's EndVana Parva ‧ 11 min
• The Sage Who Defeated DeathMarkandeya, Shiva, and the Conquest of DeathVana Parva ‧ 9 min
• The Turning of the AgesMarkandeya on the Four Yugas and the End of the Kali AgeVana Parva
• The Frog PrincessMarkandeya's Tale of SushobhanaVana Parva
• The King Who Was ForgottenA search among the oldest beings for one who remembersVana Parva ‧ 9 min
• The Righteous ButcherThe Wisdom of the VyadhaVana Parva ‧ 13 min
• The Court of Sages at the Dvaita LakeAn exile that filled up with brahmanas instead of soldiersVana Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Queen Who Put God on TrialA bird on a string, and a child breaking its toysVana Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Muni Who Would Not Stay DeadA hunting accident, a vanished body, and an answer about fearVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Horses of VamadevaA loan not returned, and two kings undone by the same refusalVana Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Measure of a King's GivingThree short tests of what a gift is worthVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• Who Falls From Heaven FirstNarada rides with four kings and ranks their generosityVana Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Road to Yama's CountryWhat each gift becomes on the walk after deathVana Parva ‧ 19 min
• The Fire That ResignedTwo gods each insisting the other keep the officeVana Parva ‧ 17 min
• Devasena and the Husband Not Yet BornA rescue on the Manasa hills and a promise the gods had to invent someone to keepVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• Swaha and the Six DisguisesThe wives who were punished for a child that was never theirsVana Parva ‧ 20 min
• The Thunderbolt and the Seizers of ChildrenWhat came out of the wound, and the bargain that followedVana Parva ‧ 21 min
• The Boons of Visrava's SonsThree brothers ask Brahma for different thingsVana Parva ‧ 17 min
• The Arrow From Behind the TreeA wife who read the omens, and a king who would not listenVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Grove of Ashoka TreesA captive refuses, and a rakshasi tells her dreamVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Bird With the Burnt WingsA search that ended at a cliff, and the brother of JatayuVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Sleeper WokenRavana spends his brothers one after anotherVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Testimony of the ElementsWhat Rama said when she was brought back to himVana Parva ‧ 16 min
• The Feast Shibi CookedA brahmana demands the king's son as his meal, and Shibi obeys without changing colourVana Parva ‧ 15 min
• The Gods Ask for RamaAgni pleads before Brahma, and the answer is a king's son and an army of monkeys and bearsVana Parva ‧ 12 min
• The Friend of DasarathaA vulture fights Ravana in the sky, and a headless Rakshasa points the way to SugrivaVana Parva ‧ 14 min
• Nala's BridgeThe Ocean refuses to part and names a workman instead, and the monkey army walks to LankaVana Parva ‧ 17 min
• Sakamvari and the Ford of GoldThe goddess who fed the sages on herbs, and the tirtha where Vishnu knelt to RudraVana Parva ‧ 21 min
• Tarkshya Asks SaraswatiWhat a gift is worth, and the one merit a man with nothing can still earnVana Parva ‧ 13 min
• The Children of AgniMarkandeya names the whole family of fires, from the daughters of Angiras to the rivers who mothered themVana Parva ‧ 18 min
• How the Krittikas Took Abhijit's PlaceA star leaves the sky in envy of her elder sister, and Skanda's six nurses are raised into the empty stationVana Parva ‧ 19 min
• Lanka in the MahabharataRavana's island as the epic remembers itVana Parva
• When Fire Hid From the WorldMarkandeya's tale of the god who carried everything and was thanked for nothingVana Parva
• The Grandsire Names the GodDuryodhana asks why he keeps losing and gets a theology insteadBhishma Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Son Struck From the Fire SticksA hundred years of penance, a parrot on a branch, and a child born of frictionShanti Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Tribes Beyond the PaleBhishma names the peoples of the borders and dates them to the ending of the first ageShanti Parva ‧ 18 min
• The Dove and the HunterThe Pigeon Who Honored Its EnemyShanti Parva ‧ 9 min
• The King Who Chose HellVipashchit and the Compassion That Emptied a HellShanti Parva ‧ 9 min
• The Savitri Mantra of SalutationsBhishma gives Yudhishthira the roll of names to be said at dawnAnushasana Parva ‧ 21 min
• What Sends a Man to Heaven or HellBhishma on gifts, the Sraddha, and the two lists of deedsAnushasana Parva ‧ 24 min
• The Fourfold Religion of CompassionBhishma on abstaining from meat, and the kings who kept the vowAnushasana Parva ‧ 24 min
• The Mysteries of Religion, Part OneThe deities, the Pitris and the Rishis each give up a duty whose reason is secretAnushasana Parva ‧ 24 min
• The Departure of BhishmaThe sun turns north, and the grandsire lets goAnushasana Parva ‧ 17 min

Character Arc

1. 1The BoonDeath itself turns away from him
2. 2The TalesConsoles the exiled Pandavas with stories

Key Relationships

• Comforter of➝Yudhishthira

Places in Markandeya's Story

Drawn from the stories Markandeya appears in.

• Dvaitavanaद्वैतवन
• Angaअंग
• Kamyaka Forestकाम्यक वन
• Madraमद्र
• Shalvaशाल्व
• Kosalaकोसल
• Chitrakutaचित्रकूट
• Lankaलङ्का
• Rishyamuka Mountainऋष्यमूक पर्वत
• Kishkindhaकिष्किन्धा
• Naimisharanyaनैमिषारण्य
• Videha (Mithila)विदेह

Related Characters

Others counted among the Divine Beings.

• ❉Krishna
• ◭Hanuman
• ❧Kacha
• ≈Goddess Ganga
• ★The Eight Vasus
• ॐSage Vyasa