Shloka 172

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

Sanskrit

हा वत्स ! हा पुत्र ! शिशो ! इत्येवं वदती मुहुः ।

कृशा विवर्णा विमनाः पांशुध्वस्तशिरोरुहा ॥

Transliteration

hā vatsa! hā putra! śiśo! ity evaṃ vadatī muhuḥ / kṛśā vivarṇā vimanāḥ pāṃśudhvastaśiroruhā

Translation

«وا حسرتاه يا عجلي! وا حسرتاه يا ابني! يا طفلي!» هكذا كانت تصرخ مرارًا وتكرارًا. كانت هزيلة شاحبة كئيبة، وشعر رأسها متسخًا منثورًا عليه الغبار.

Word by Word

• हा: alas!
• हा: सम्बोधन (Vocative exclamation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हा (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बोधनार्थक अव्यय (interjection of lament)

• वत्स: dear child
• वत्स: सम्बोधन (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वत्स (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• हा: alas!
• हा: सम्बोधन (Vocative exclamation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हा (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बोधनार्थक अव्यय

• पुत्र: son
• पुत्र: सम्बोधन (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• शिशो: O infant/child
• शिशो: सम्बोधन (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिशु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन (ओ-सम्बोधन)

• इति: thus
• इति: सम्बन्ध (Quotation marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इत्यादि-उद्धरणसूचक (quotative particle)

• एवम्: in this way
• एवम्: क्रियाविशेषण (Adverbial modifier)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (manner adverb)

• वदती: speaking, saying
• वदती: कर्ता (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √वद् (धातु)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (present active participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• मुहुः: again and again
• मुहुः: क्रियाविशेषण (Frequency adverb)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: मुहुः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; पुनरावृत्तिवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (repeatedly)

• कृशा: emaciated
• कृशा: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (स्त्री—भार्या)

• विवर्णा: pale, discolored
• विवर्णा: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विवर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण

• विमनाः: downcast, dejected
• विमनाः: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विमनस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; -अस् अन्त; विशेषण

• पांशुध्वस्तशिरोरुहा: whose hair is disheveled with dust
• पांशुध्वस्तशिरोरुहा: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पांशु-ध्वस्त-शिरोरुह (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः: (पांशुना ध्वस्ताः शिरोरुहाः यस्याः)

Speakers

• Narrative voice (describing the queen’s lament)

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Śoka (grief)
• Lamentation formulae
• Embodied suffering
• Mortality

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The Purāṇic narrative legitimizes grief while also revealing its consuming power; the detailed bodily markers of sorrow teach vairāgya (dispassion) by showing the inevitable vulnerability of human bonds.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Carita/didactic narration; it serves the moral arc of the episode rather than cosmological or genealogical cataloging.

What is the esoteric significance?

The repeated cries (‘hā…hā…’) are a mantra-like negative echo: the mind circles loss; dust in the hair signifies the collapse of royal saṃskāra (refinement) into elemental reality (pṛthvī), a return to the ground.