Shloka 109

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

Sanskrit

अस्थिसंघातसङ्कीर्णं महादुर्गन्धसङ्कुलम् । नानामृतसुहृन्नाद-रौद्रकोलाहलायुतम् ॥

Transliteration

asthi-saṃghāta-saṅkīrṇaṃ mahā-durgandha-saṅkulam / nānā-mṛta-suhṛn-nāda-raudra-kolāhala-āyutam

Translation

Es war übersät mit Haufen von Knochen, erfüllt von überwältigendem Gestank und geladen mit wildem Aufruhr – den vielen Schreien jener, die um ihre toten Geliebten trauerten.

Word by Word

• अस्थि-संघात-सङ्कीर्णम्: strewn with heaps of bones
• अस्थि-संघात-सङ्कीर्णम्: विशेषण (काय/स्थानस्य)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अस्थि (प्रातिपदिक) + संघात (प्रातिपदिक) + सङ्कीर्ण (कृदन्त, √कॄ/किर्)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कृदन्त-विशेषण: भूतकर्मणि/कर्मणि क्त (past passive participle) ‘सङ्कीर्ण’

• महा-दुर्गन्ध-सङ्कुलम्: filled with great stench
• महा-दुर्गन्ध-सङ्कुलम्: विशेषण (काय/स्थानस्य)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा (अव्यय/उपसर्गवत् विशेषण) + दुर्गन्ध (प्रातिपदिक) + सङ्कुल (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्तवत् विशेषण)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; समास: महादुर्गन्धेन सङ्कुलम् (instrumental-tatpuruṣa sense)

• नाना: of various kinds
• नाना: विशेषणार्थक-अव्यय (वर्णन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नाना (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकार/विविधता-वाचक (adverbial: ‘variously, many kinds of’)

• अमृत: nectar; (here) ‘immortal/dead’ contextually as part of compound
• अमृत: समासाङ्ग (निर्देशक)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमृत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग)

• सुहृत्: friend
• सुहृत्: समासाङ्ग
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुहृत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रातिपदिक-रूप (समासाङ्ग)

• नाद-रौद्र-कोलाहल-आयुतम्: accompanied by dreadful clamour of cries
• नाद-रौद्र-कोलाहल-आयुतम्: विशेषण (काय/स्थानस्य)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नाद (प्रातिपदिक) + रौद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + कोलाहल (प्रातिपदिक) + आयुत (कृदन्त, √यु/युज् ‘to join’, क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; कृदन्त-विशेषण: क्त ‘आयुत’ = ‘युक्त/समेत’; समासार्थ: नादेन रौद्रेण कोलाहलेन च आयुतम् (instrumental-tatpuruṣa sense; multiple members)

Speakers

• Narrator voice

Verse Rasa

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

Key Themes

• Mortality
• Grief and attachment
• Śmaśāna as didactic setting

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The juxtaposition of bone-heaps and human lament underscores the gap between attachment and reality: loved bodies end as indistinguishable remnants. The scene invites compassion while urging discernment (viveka) about what truly endures.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Ākhyāna/Upākhyāna: narrative mood and moral pressure, not genealogical/cosmic enumeration.

What is the esoteric significance?

The ‘uproar of grief’ is the sonic form of saṃsāra—mind’s turbulence when faced with loss. Bone-heaps symbolize the equalizing truth that dissolves personal narratives.