Shloka 201

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

Sanskrit

राज्यनाशं सुहृत्त्यागं भार्या-तनयविक्रयम् ।

प्रापयित्वापि नो कुक्तश्चण्डालोऽयं कृतो नृपः ॥

Transliteration

rājya-nāśaṃ suhṛt-tyāgaṃ bhāryā-tanaya-vikrayam |

prāpayitvāpi no kuktaś caṇḍālo 'yaṃ kṛto nṛpaḥ ||

Translation

حتى بعد أن تسببتِ في ضياع مملكته، وهجر الأصدقاء، وبيع الزوجة والابن—ما زلتِ غيرَ راضية: لقد جُعِل هذا الملكُ «تشاندالا».

Word by Word

• rājya-nāśam: loss of kingdom
• rājya-nāśam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājya (प्रातिपदिक) + nāśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; तत्पुरुष-समास (rājyasya nāśaḥ)

• suhṛt-tyāgam: abandoning friends
• suhṛt-tyāgam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: suhṛt (प्रातिपदिक) + tyāga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; तत्पुरुष-समास (suhṛdāṃ tyāgaḥ)

• bhāryā-tanaya-vikrayam: sale of wife and son
• bhāryā-tanaya-vikrayam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāryā (प्रातिपदिक) + tanaya (प्रातिपदिक) + vikraya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; तत्पुरुष-समास (bhāryāyāḥ tanayasya ca vikrayaḥ)

• prāpayitvā: having brought about
• prāpayitvā: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√āp (धातु)
• Form: Causative (णिच्) gerund (क्त्वान्त) of √āp: 'having caused to obtain/inflicted'

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (अपि) = 'even/also'

• naḥ: of us/our
• naḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun; Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural (बहुवचन)

• kuktaḥ: was ashamed/repented
• kuktaḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kuc/√kuk (धातु; 'to be ashamed/repent'—rare)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; used predicatively

• caṇḍālaḥ: an outcaste (caṇḍāla)
• caṇḍālaḥ: Pratipādya (प्रातिपाद्य/विशेष्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: caṇḍāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• ayam: this
• ayam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun; Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• kṛtaḥ: has been made
• kṛtaḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• nṛpaḥ: the king
• nṛpaḥ: Karta/Āśraya (कर्ता/आश्रय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

Speakers

• Rājapatnī (queen)

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Catalog of suffering
• Injustice as experienced by the devotee/householder
• Testing of dharma

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The piling up of losses illustrates how dharma-tests can be sequential and escalating; the ethical ideal implied in the larger Hariścandra cycle is steadfastness when every external support collapses.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Didactic ākhyāna; not a pañcalakṣaṇa segment, though attached to royal exemplarity (nṛpa-dharma tested).

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘stripping’ motif (kingdom → friends → family → identity) can be read as a forced vairāgya: the narrative pushes the protagonist toward reliance on inner truth rather than outer props.