Shloka 173
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
राजपत्नी उवाच—
हा राजन्नद्य बालं त्वं पश्य सोमं महीतले ।
रममाणं पुरा दृष्टं दुष्टाहिना मृतम् ॥
rājapatny uvāca—hā rājann adya bālaṃ tvaṃ paśya somaṃ mahītale / ramamāṇaṃ purā dṛṣṭaṃ duṣṭāhinā mṛtam
Sang permaisuri berkata: “Wahai Raja, celaka! Hari ini lihatlah anak ini—laksana bulan—terbaring di tanah. Yang dahulu tampak bermain, kini dibunuh oleh ular yang jahat.”
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FAQs
The verse intensifies the lesson of anityatā (impermanence): what was ‘ramamāṇa’ (playing) becomes ‘mṛta’ (dead) without warning; it urges compassionate realism and a turn toward higher dharma/refuge beyond fragile worldly happiness.
Carita: an emotional-narrative unit used for instruction; not an explicit pancalakṣaṇa passage.
The ‘moon-like’ child fallen to earth symbolizes the descent of luminous consciousness into mortality; the ‘wicked serpent’ can be read as kāla (time) striking suddenly, collapsing the illusion of continuity between ‘before’ and ‘now’.