Shloka 84
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
चाण्डाल उवाच अहमार्थो त्वया शीघ्रं कथयस्वात्मवेतनम् । स्तोकेन बहुना वापि येन वै लभ्यते भवान् ॥
caṇḍāla uvāca aham artho tvayā śīghraṃ kathayasvātma-vetanam / stokena bahunā vāpi yena vai labhyate bhavān
চাণ্ডালে ক’লে—মোৰ এটা উদ্দেশ্য আছে; সোনকালে তোমাৰ নিজ দাক্ষিণা (তুমি যি বিচাৰা) মোক কোৱা। সংক্ষেপে বা বিস্তাৰে সেই উপায় কোৱা, যাৰ দ্বাৰা তুমি নিশ্চয়কৈ প্ৰাপ্ত হওঁৱা।
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FAQs
The verse foregrounds the seeker’s stance: clarity of purpose and willingness to receive instruction in any suitable form—brief or elaborate. Ethically, it reflects humility and earnestness: the questioner asks what is required and what method leads to attainment, implying that right means (upāya) and proper exchange/obligation (vetana) matter in dharmic instruction.
This verse is primarily within the Purāṇic narrative/dialogue apparatus rather than a direct statement of sarga (creation), pratisarga, vaṃśa (genealogy), manvantara, or vaṃśānucarita. It functions as framing dialogue that can introduce dharma/upāya teaching which may later connect to those categories, but it is not itself a pancalakṣaṇa datum.
Symbolically, the ‘Caṇḍāla’ voice can represent the universal eligibility of inquiry: the impulse toward truth arises irrespective of social label. The request for ‘ātma-vetana’ can be read inwardly as asking: what inner cost—discipline, purity, vow, or renunciation—is required for attainment, and what concise principle (or expanded teaching) leads to realizing the sought one.