Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 8, Shloka 153
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
पुत्रस्ते शोच्यतां प्राप्तो भार्यंयाः शैव्यया सह । स नापश्यत् पुनरपि धावमानः पुनः पुनः ॥
putras te śocyatāṃ prāpto bhāryāṃyāḥ śaivyayā saha / sa nāpaśyat punar api dhāvamānaḥ punaḥ punaḥ
(वह बोली:) “आपका पुत्र और आपकी पत्नी शैव्या—दोनों शोक योग्य दशा को प्राप्त हो गए हैं।” पर वह उन्हें फिर न देख सका, यद्यपि वह बार-बार दौड़ता रहा।
{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
Running ‘again and again’ without finding relief illustrates that grief cannot be solved by frantic action; the Purāṇic remedy is dharma, repentance, and inner reorientation rather than compulsive pursuit.
Didactic narrative (ākhyāna) aimed at moral instruction; tangential to Vaṃśa only insofar as characters belong to royal lines.
The repeated running is a metaphor for saṃsāric seeking—endless motion without fulfillment—until one turns toward knowledge (jñāna) and detachment (vairāgya).