Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 8, Shloka 144
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
ततो निपातितो भूमौ विष्ठाशी श्वा व्यजायत । वान्ताशी शीतदग्धश्च मासमात्रे मृतोऽपि सः ॥
tato nipātito bhūmau viṣṭhāśī śvā vyajāyata / vāntāśī śītadagdhaś ca māsamātre mṛto 'pi saḥ
तब वह भूमि पर गिरा दिया गया और विष्ठा खाने वाला कुत्ता बनकर जन्मा। वमन खाकर और शीत से दग्ध होकर वह केवल एक मास में ही मर गया।
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FAQs
The verse depicts the harsh fruition of adharma: consciousness is driven into degrading embodiments where life is brief and painful. It functions as a warning that status and power cannot shield one from karmic consequence.
Primarily within Vamśānucarita / narrative exemplum (ethical history/illustration) rather than Sarga/Pratisarga proper; it is a didactic episode teaching karmaphala through story.
The ‘low foods’ (feces, vomit) symbolize the mind’s fall into tamas and compulsive consumption; ‘burned by cold’ conveys the torment of embodiment when inner dharma-heat (tapas) is absent.