Shloka 77
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
विश्वामित्र उवाच
चतुर्भागः स्थितो योऽयं दिवसस्य नराधिप ।
एष एव प्रतीक्ष्यो मे वक्तव्यं नोत्तरं त्वया ॥
viśvāmitra uvāca
caturbhāgaḥ sthito yo 'yaṃ divasasya narādhipa /
eṣa eva pratīkṣyo me vaktavyaṃ nottaraṃ tvayā //
Viśvāmitra dijo: «Oh señor de los hombres, esta porción —la cuarta parte del día— que ahora resta: espérame sólo por tanto. Hasta entonces, no has de pronunciar respuesta alguna más.»
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FAQs
The verse emphasizes niyama (discipline): measured time, measured speech. The king is instructed to restrain immediate reaction and to follow the sage’s directive, modeling obedience, patience, and control over vāk (speech), which is a key ethical restraint in dharma literature.
This verse is not primarily about sarga/pratisarga or manvantara/vaṃśa. It fits best under vaṃśānucarita/ākhyāna (exemplary narrative episodes) used to teach dharma through dialogue and conduct rather than cosmology.
“One-fourth of the day remaining” can be read as a liminal interval where tapas ripens: the practitioner protects the inner fire by guarding speech. Silence here is not mere muteness but containment of prāṇa and intention until the destined moment (kāla) is complete.