Shloka 32
Adhyaya 7 — Harishchandra Tested by Vishvamitra: The Gift of the Kingdom and the Pandava Curse-Backstory
हरिश्चन्द्र उवाच—
यस्मिन्नपि मया काले ब्राह्मण दत्ता वसुन्धरा ।
तस्मिन्नपि भवान् स्वामी किमुताद्य महीपतिः ॥
hariścandra uvāca—
yasminn api mayā kāle brāhmaṇa dattā vasundharā |
tasminn api bhavān svāmī kim utādya mahīpatiḥ ||
Hariscandra berkata: “Bahkan ketika aku menghadiahkan bumi (tanah) kepada seorang brāhmaṇa, engkau tetap tuannya—apalagi sekarang, wahai raja bumi!”
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FAQs
The verse underscores that royal power is fundamentally stewardship under dharma: even if a king performs a grand act like donating land, rightful authority and moral accountability persist. It implies that gifts must be aligned with legitimate order and that dharma-based sovereignty is not merely transactional.
This passage is best classified under Vaṁśānucarita (accounts of dynasties/royal lineages and exemplary kings) and Dharma-śikṣā (ethical instruction embedded in narrative), rather than cosmological Sarga/Pratisarga.
‘Earth’ (vasundharā) functions symbolically as the field of karma and responsibility. The statement that a higher ‘master’ remains even when ownership is claimed or transferred hints at layered sovereignty: personal agency operates within a greater moral order (ṛta/dharma) that cannot be alienated by mere formal acts.