Shloka 165
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
गतेत्यपृच्छत तत्रस्थान् पुक्कसांस्तु स संभ्रमात् ।
नेत्युचुः केचित् तत्रस्थाः एवमेवापरेऽब्रुवन् ॥
gatety apṛcchat tatrasthān pukkasāṃs tu sa sambhramāt / nety ūcuḥ kecit tatrasthā evam evāpare 'bruvan
അശാന്തനായി അവൻ അവിടെ നിന്നിരുന്ന പുക്കസന്മാരോട് ചോദിച്ചു: “അവൻ/അവൾ പോയോ?” അവിടെ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന ചിലർ “ഇല്ല” എന്നു പറഞ്ഞു; മറ്റുള്ളവരും അതുപോലെ പറഞ്ഞു.
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FAQs
Status reversal is implied: a king is reduced to questioning those at the margins; the ethical undertone is impermanence of worldly rank and the destabilizing power of adharma/karma when sovereignty is lost.
Carita/vaṃśānucarita-type narrative episode (illustrative story) rather than cosmological sarga or manvantara catalog.
The ‘mixed answers’ dramatize the fragmented mind in duḥkha—when inner certainty is lost, even external voices become contradictory, pushing the seeker toward śaraṇāgati (refuge).