Shloka 27
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
हा हा कथं त्वया शक्यं वक्तुमेतत् शुचिस्मिते ।
दुर्वाच्यमेतद्वचनं कर्तुं शक्नोम्यहं कथम् ॥
hā hā kathaṃ tvayā śakyaṃ vaktum etat śucismite /
durvācyam etad vacanaṃ kartuṃ śaknomy ahaṃ katham //
„Weh, weh! Wie kannst du so etwas sagen, o du mit reinem Lächeln? Das ist eine harte, unziemliche Rede — wie könnte ich mich je dazu bringen, solche Worte auszusprechen?“
FAQs
The verse foregrounds vāg-saṃyama—restraint and discernment in speech. Even under provocation or intense circumstance, one should avoid words that are ‘durvācyam’ (improper/harsh/indecent), because speech is treated as a moral act with consequences in dharma literature.
This verse is primarily narrative-dialogic within a sacred history/teaching section rather than a direct treatment of sarga (creation), pratisarga, vaṃśa (genealogies), manvantara, or vaṃśānucarita. It most closely aligns with vaṃśānucarita/itihāsa-style narration insofar as it is part of the Purāṇic storytelling frame, but it is not a pancalakṣaṇa data-point itself.
On an inner-reading, ‘durvācyam’ can indicate the tamasic impulse toward corrosive or degrading speech, while the reluctance to utter it signals the sattvic guarding of vāk (speech as śakti). The address ‘śucismite’ evokes purity/clarity: the purified mind recoils from speech that would thicken ignorance or intensify hostility.