Shloka 16
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
पक्षिण ऊचुः राजानं व्याकुलं दीनं चिन्तयानमधोमुखम् ।
प्रत्युवाच तदा पत्नी बाष्पगद्गदयाि गिरा ॥
pakṣiṇa ūcuḥ rājānaṃ vyākulaṃ dīnaṃ cintayānam adhomukham | pratyuvāca tadā patnī bāṣpa-gadgadayā girā ||
പക്ഷികൾ പറഞ്ഞു—അപ്പോൾ ആ രാജാവ് വ്യാകുലനും ഖിന്നനും ആയി മുഖം താഴ്ത്തി ചിന്തയിൽ മുങ്ങിയിരുന്നു; അവനോട് അവന്റെ ഭാര്യ മറുപടി പറഞ്ഞു, കണ്ണീരാൽ കണ്ഠം മുട്ടി വാക്കുകൾ വിറച്ച്.
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FAQs
The verse foregrounds a dharmic moment: suffering and mental agitation are not treated as private weakness but as a catalyst for counsel and right action. The wife’s tear-choked reply signals compassionate engagement—ethical guidance often arises within household relationships, where empathy becomes the doorway to restoring steadiness (dhairya) and discernment (viveka).
This verse belongs primarily to the Purāṇic frame-narrative and dharma-instructional stream rather than to sarga/pratisarga or manvantara/vaṃśa. In Pancalakṣaṇa terms it is best classified as ancillary dharma-upadeśa embedded in narrative (not a direct instance of Sarga, Pratisarga, Vaṃśa, Manvantara, or Vaṃśānucarita).
Symbolically, the downcast face (adhomukha) suggests consciousness turned inward and burdened by tamas (heaviness, despair). The wife’s ‘gadgada’ speech—voice trembling with tears—indicates the purification of emotion into truth-speaking: sorrow, when articulated with sincerity, becomes a turning-point where dharma can re-enter the mind and redirect it from paralysis to purposeful action.