Shloka 1
Adhyaya 7 — Harishchandra Tested by Vishvamitra: The Gift of the Kingdom and the Pandava Curse-Backstory
इति श्रीमार्कण्डेयपुराणे बलदेवब्रह्महत्यानाम षष्ठोऽध्यायः ।
सप्तमोऽध्यायः ।
धर्मपक्षिण ऊचुः—
हरिश्चन्द्र इति राजर्षिरासीत्त्रेतायुगे पुरा ।
धर्मात्मा पृथिवीपालः प्रोल्लसत्कीर्तिरुत्तमः ॥
iti śrī-mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇe baladeva-brahmahatyā-nāma ṣaṣṭho 'dhyāyaḥ |
saptamo 'dhyāyaḥ |
dharmapakṣiṇa ūcuḥ—
hariścandra iti rājarṣir āsīt tretāyuge purā |
dharmātmā pṛthivīpālaḥ prollasat-kīrtir uttamaḥ ||
So endet das sechste Kapitel des Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya-Purāṇa mit dem Titel „Baladeva und die (Sünde des) Brahmanenmordes“. Nun beginnt das siebte Kapitel. Die Dharma-Vögel sprachen: „Einst, im Tretā-Zeitalter, gab es einen königlichen Seher namens Hariścandra—von Natur aus rechtschaffen, ein Beschützer der Erde, dessen vortrefflicher Ruhm hell erstrahlte.“
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FAQs
The verse sets Hariścandra up as a paradigm of dharma in rulership: a king becomes ‘rājarṣi’ not by power alone but by truthfulness, protection of subjects, and steadfast righteousness—qualities that generate enduring kīrti (renown) as a moral consequence.
This is primarily within Vaṁśa/Carita (genealogy/royal narrative and exemplary lives): it introduces a famed king in a specific yuga to unfold a dharma-centered story. It is not directly sarga/pratisarga/manvantara, though it uses the yuga time-marker typical of Purāṇic historiography.
Hariścandra’s ‘shining fame’ (prollasat-kīrti) symbolizes the inner luminosity born of satya and dharma; in Purāṇic pedagogy, such a figure functions as a mirror for the listener—teaching that moral integrity itself becomes a protective ‘sovereignty’ over one’s life and legacy.