Shloka 112

Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala

Sanskrit

ज्वलन्मांस-वसा-मेदच्छमच्छमितसङ्कुलम् ॥

Transliteration

jvalan-māṃsa-vasā-meda-cchamacchamita-saṅkulam

Translation

كان المكان مليئاً بأصوات ’تشاتشاتشا‘ الناجمة عن احتراق اللحم والدهن والنخاع.

Word by Word

• ज्वलत्: burning
• ज्वलत्: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्वल् (धातु, √ज्वल्)
• Form: वर्तमान-कृदन्त (शतृ) ‘ज्वलत्’; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (समासाङ्ग/विशेषण)

• मांस-वसा-मेदस्-छमच्छमित-सङ्कुलम्: filled with the squelching/sizzling of flesh, fat, and marrow
• मांस-वसा-मेदस्-छमच्छमित-सङ्कुलम्: विशेषण (काय/स्थानस्य)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मांस (प्रातिपदिक) + वसा (प्रातिपदिक) + मेदस् (प्रातिपदिक) + छमच्छमित (कृदन्त, ध्वन्यनुकरण-धातु √छमच्छम्/छमछम्, क्त) + सङ्कुल (प्रातिपदिक/विशेषण)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; बह्वङ्ग-समास: मांस-वसा-मेदोभिः छमच्छमितं (ध्वनितं/कलकलितं) येन तत्; तेन सङ्कुलम् ‘filled with’

Speakers

• Narrator voice

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "secondaryRasa": "bibhatsa", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Cremation realism
• Vairāgya (dispassion) through contemplation of death
• Transience of the body

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse forces an unromantic view of embodiment: what is cherished becomes fuel. Such contemplation is a classical means to reduce arrogance and attachment, encouraging ethical living and spiritual urgency.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Ākhyāna/Upākhyāna: descriptive micro-verse within a narrative scene.

What is the esoteric significance?

Fire here is both literal and symbolic: it consumes forms and reveals the formless. The crackling sound can be read as the ‘speech’ of impermanence—nature’s reminder that all compounded things disintegrate.