Shloka 89
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
विश्वामित्र उवाच ।
चण्डालोऽयमनल्पं ते दातुं वित्तमुपस्थितः ।
कस्मान्न दीयते मह्यमशेषा यज्ञदक्षिणा ॥
viśvāmitra uvāca
caṇḍālo 'yam analpaṃ te dātuṃ vittam upasthitaḥ |
kasmān na dīyate mahyam aśeṣā yajñadakṣiṇā ||
Viśvāmitra said: “This Caṇḍāla has come forward with no small amount of wealth for you to give. Why, then, is the entire sacrificial fee (yajña-dakṣiṇā) not being given to me?”
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FAQs
The verse foregrounds a dharmic tension: ritual obligation (paying the promised yajña-dakṣiṇā) should not be withheld when means are available, even if the source of wealth is socially stigmatized (a Caṇḍāla). It challenges the listener to prioritize truthfulness in vows and fairness in recompense over prejudice or hesitation about the donor’s status.
This verse is best classified under ancillary narrative/ethical instruction rather than the core pañcalakṣaṇa topics (sarga, pratisarga, vaṃśa, manvantara, vaṃśānucarita). At most, it supports dharma-oriented teaching embedded within vaṃśānucarita-style storytelling, but it is not itself a cosmogonic or genealogical datum.
Symbolically, the ‘Caṇḍāla with wealth’ can represent the unexpected emergence of resources from liminal or rejected domains of life. The demand for ‘aśeṣā dakṣiṇā’ underscores integrity: spiritual or ritual merit is compromised when one’s promised offering is reduced by aversion, fear of social blame, or attachment to purity-status notions.