Shloka 95
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
विश्वामित्र उवाच यदि प्रेष्यो मम भवान् चण्डालाय ततो मया ।
दासभावमनुप्राप्तो दत्तो वित्तार्बुदेन वै ॥
viśvāmitra uvāca yadi preṣyo mama bhavān caṇḍālāya tato mayā / dāsabhāvam anuprāpto datto vittārbudena vai //
ヴィシュヴァーミトラは言った。「もし汝が我が僕であるなら、我はまことに汝をチャンダーラに引き渡したのだ。かくして奴隷の境遇に落ちた汝は、一アルブダの財と引き換えに彼へ与えられた。」
{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "karuna", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
The verse frames servitude as a legally/transactionally imposed condition (“given for an arbuda of wealth”) and highlights the dharmic tension between treating persons as commodities and the social stigma attached to being placed under a Caṇḍāla. In Purāṇic moral discourse, such statements typically serve to expose the gravity of coercion, the fragility of social standing, and the karmic/ethical weight borne by those who ‘give’ or ‘hand over’ another into degrading circumstances.
This verse is best classified under Vaṃśānucarita/Carita (narrative of persons and events), rather than Sarga/Pratisarga/Manvantara/Vaṃśa. It functions as a dialogue line within an episode, not as cosmology or genealogical enumeration.
Symbolically, ‘preṣya’ (one who is sent) and ‘dāsa-bhāva’ (bondage) can be read as metaphors for the jīva’s bondage under external forces (social, economic, or karmic). The transfer to a ‘Caṇḍāla’ underscores a descent into perceived impurity/alienation—an image often used in dharma literature to dramatize the loss of dignity and autonomy when one’s agency is surrendered to worldly valuation (“vitta”).