Shloka 169
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
शवानां मूल्यकरणे पुनर्नष्टस्मृतिर्यथा ।
मलिनो जटिलः कृष्णो लकुटी विह्वलो नृपः ॥
śavānāṃ mūlyakaraṇe punar naṣṭasmṛtir yathā / malino jaṭilaḥ kṛṣṇo lakuṭī vihvalo nṛpaḥ
Alors qu’il évaluait et marchandait des cadavres, sa mémoire se perdit de nouveau. Le roi—souillé, aux cheveux emmêlés, le visage assombri, tenant une massue—demeura hébété, troublé et secoué.
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FAQs
Identity rooted in power and memory is fragile; when kingship is lost, even self-recognition collapses—warning against pride and urging grounding in enduring dharma rather than role/status.
Carita: a narrative demonstration of impermanence and karmic reversal, not a cosmological/genealogical register.
Corpse-commerce and matted hair evoke śmaśāna symbolism: confrontation with death strips social masks; ‘loss of memory’ hints at avidyā—forgetting one’s true nature—intensified by tamas (darkness).