Shloka 47
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
मा शापानलनिर्दग्धः पञ्चत्वमुपयास्यसि ।
स तथा चोद्यमानस्तु राजा पत्न्या पुनः पुनः ॥
mā śāpānala-nirdagdhaḥ pañcatvam upayāsyasi | sa tathā codyamānas tu rājā patnyā punaḥ punaḥ ||
“Jangan (berbuat demikian)! Dibakar oleh api sumpahan, engkau akan menemui kebinasaan (kembali menjadi lima unsur).” Walaupun isterinya berulang kali menasihati, raja itu tetap meneruskan.
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FAQs
The verse underscores the inevitability of karmic consequence: wrongful persistence despite repeated, well-meant counsel leads to ruin. It also reflects the Purāṇic ethic that a śāpa (curse), once operative, is not a mere threat but a binding moral-ritual force—hence the urgency of restraint and right action.
Primarily within Vaṁśānucarita/Carita (narrative of persons and events) as part of the Devi Mahatmyam’s episodic story-flow; it is not a direct Sarga/Pratisarga/Manvantara/Vaṁśa passage, but a didactic narrative moment embedded in the larger Purāṇic framework.
“Śāpānala” (curse-fire) symbolizes the inner blaze of adharma set in motion—once ignited, it consumes the agent. “Pañcatva” points to the dissolution of embodied pride and agency back into the elements, a reminder that defiance of dharma collapses the constructed self into mere material constituents.