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
The Caṇḍāla said: “I have a purpose to ask. Quickly tell me your own ‘fee’—what you require. Whether briefly or at length, tell that by which one truly attains you, that is, how your help and fulfilment may be obtained.”
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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.