Shloka 86
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
चण्डाल उवाच चण्डालोऽहमिहाख्यातः प्रवीरेति पुरोत्तमे । विख्यातो वध्यवधको मृतकम्बलहारकः ॥
caṇḍāla uvāca caṇḍālo 'ham ihākhyātaḥ pravīreti purottame / vikhyāto vadhyavadhako mṛtakambalahārakaḥ
ຈັນດາລາເວົ້າວ່າ: “ຂ້ອຍໃນທີ່ນີ້ຖືກຮູ້ຈັກວ່າ ‘ປຣະວີຣະ’ ໂອ ຜູ້ປະເສີດໃນມະນຸດ. ຂ້ອຍມີຊື່ສຽງຊົ່ວວ່າເປັນຜູ້ປະຫານຜູ້ຖືກຕັດສິນໂທດປະຫານ, ແລະເປັນຜູ້ຂົນເອົາຜ້າຫົ່ມຂອງຄົນຕາຍໄປ” ເທິງ.
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FAQs
The verse presents a blunt self-disclosure of identity and livelihood: the speaker admits to occupations tied to death (executing the condemned and taking possessions from the dead). Ethically, it foregrounds how social status and karma-laden professions are discussed in Purāṇic narratives—often as a setup for exploring repentance, purity/impurity notions, and the possibility (or limits) of dharmic transformation despite a stigmatized role.
This verse is not primarily sarga (creation), pratisarga (re-creation), vaṃśa (genealogies), manvantara (Manu cycles), or vaṃśānucarita (dynastic chronicles). It belongs to the Purāṇa’s narrative-ethical material (ākhyāna/upākhyāna) used to teach dharma through dialogue and characterization, which is ancillary to (but common within) Purāṇic composition.
Symbolically, the ‘executioner of the condemned’ can represent the inescapability of karmic consequence (daṇḍa/phala), while ‘taking the dead man’s blanket’ evokes attachment to what is inherently transient. The confession functions as a narrative threshold: a figure associated with impurity and death stands as a mirror for the listener’s own latent fear, judgment, and attachment—preparing the ground for a teaching on dharma that transcends mere social labeling.