Shloka 41
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
सत्येनार्कः प्रतपति सत्ये तिष्ठति मेदिनी ।
सत्यं चोक्तं परो धर्मः स्वर्गः सत्ये प्रतिष्ठितः ॥
satyenārkaḥ pratapati satye tiṣṭhati medinī | satyaṃ coktaṃ paro dharmaḥ svargaḥ satye pratiṣṭhitaḥ ||
Durch die Wahrheit spendet die Sonne Wärme und Licht; auf der Wahrheit steht die Erde fest. Die Wahrheit wird als höchstes Dharma verkündet, und selbst der Himmel ist auf Wahrheit gegründet.
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FAQs
Truth (satya) is portrayed not merely as a personal virtue but as the sustaining principle of the cosmos: the Sun’s radiance and the Earth’s stability are rhetorically grounded in satya. Ethically, it elevates truthfulness to the apex of dharma, implying that other duties lose their legitimacy when severed from truth.
This verse aligns most closely with 'Dharma/ācāra' instruction rather than the five cosmological markers themselves (sarga, pratisarga, vaṃśa, manvantara, vaṃśānucarita). It functions as normative teaching that often accompanies Purāṇic narration, supporting righteous conduct within the broader Purāṇic framework.
Esoterically, satya can be read as ṛta-like order: the hidden law that allows luminaries to function and worlds to endure. The verse suggests that alignment with truth harmonizes the individual with the same principle that sustains cosmic processes—thereby making spiritual ascent (symbolized by svarga) a natural consequence of truth-alignment.