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
രാജ്ഞി പറഞ്ഞു: ‘അയ്യോ രാജാവേ! ഇന്ന് ഈ കുഞ്ഞിനെ നോക്കുക—ചന്ദ്രനെപ്പോലെ—ഭൂമിയിൽ കിടക്കുന്നു. മുമ്പ് കളിച്ചുകൊണ്ടിരുന്നവനെ ദുഷ്ടസർപ്പം കൊന്നുകളഞ്ഞു.’
{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
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’.