Shloka 19
Adhyaya 7 — Harishchandra Tested by Vishvamitra: The Gift of the Kingdom and the Pandava Curse-Backstory
विश्वामित्र उवाच ।
दातव्यं कस्य के रक्ष्याः कैरुद्धव्यं च ते नृप ।
क्षिप्रमेतत् समाचक्ष्व यद्यधर्मभयं तव ॥
viśvāmitra uvāca dātavyaṃ kasya ke rakṣyāḥ kair uddhavyaṃ ca te nṛpa | kṣipram etat samācakṣva yady adharmabhayaṃ tava ||
विश्वामित्र उवाच—हे राजन्, कस्मै दानं प्रदेयम्? के रक्ष्याः, केन च ते परित्रातव्याः? शीघ्रं मे ब्रूहि—यदि त्वमधर्मं बिभेषि।
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FAQs
The verse frames dharma as practical discernment: righteous rule requires knowing (1) proper recipients of charity, (2) who must be protected as a moral obligation, and (3) who must be actively rescued—and which agents are responsible. ‘Fear of adharma’ is presented as the king’s motive for urgency and clarity.
This verse aligns most closely with Vaṃśānucarita/Rājadharma-oriented narration (ethical instruction within royal discourse), rather than Sarga/Pratisarga/Manvantara/Vaṃśa as cosmological categories. It functions as normative guidance embedded in narrative.
On a symbolic level, the triad—giving, protecting, rescuing—maps to sustaining order: dāna supports the worthy (nourishing dharma), rakṣaṇa preserves the vulnerable (guarding dharma), and uddhāra restores the fallen (recovering dharma). The ‘king’ can also be read as the governing intellect that must quickly discriminate duties to avoid adharma.