Shloka 117

Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala

Sanskrit

नानोपहारस्त्रग्दीपकाकविक्षेपकालिकम् ।

अनेकशब्दबहुलं श्मशानं नरकायते ॥

Transliteration

nānopahāra-strag-dīpa-kāka-vikṣepa-kālikam /

aneka-śabda-bahulaṃ śmaśānaṃ narakāyate

Translation

नानोपहारमालादीपैः काकक्षेपैश्च तमोमयैः कर्मभिः श्यामलम्; नानाशब्दघनं तच्च श्मशानं नरकमेवाभात्।

Word by Word

• नानोपहारस्त्रग्दीपकाकविक्षेपकालिकम्: having various offerings, garlands, lamps, and crow-scattering (rites)
• नानोपहारस्त्रग्दीपकाकविक्षेपकालिकम्: विशेषण (Viśeṣaṇa)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नाना (अव्यय) + उपहार (प्रातिपदिक) + स्रज्/स्त्रग् (प्रातिपदिक) + दीप (प्रातिपदिक) + काक (प्रातिपदिक) + विक्षेप (प्रातिपदिक) + कालिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; एकवचन — Nom/Acc singular; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (having various offerings, garlands, lamps, and crow-scattering rites/occasions)

• अनेकशब्दबहुलम्: abounding in many sounds
• अनेकशब्दबहुलम्: विशेषण (Viśeṣaṇa)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनेक (प्रातिपदिक) + शब्द (प्रातिपदिक) + बहुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; एकवचन — Nom/Acc singular; तत्पुरुष (अनेकैः शब्दैः बहुलम्)

• श्मशानम्: the cremation-ground
• श्मशानम्: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्मशान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा); एकवचन — Nominative singular

• नरकायते: becomes (like) hell
• नरकायते: क्रिया (Kriyā/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नरक (प्रातिपदिक) + या (धातु)
• Form: नामधातु (denominative) from नरक; लट् (Present/लट्); आत्मनेपद; प्रथमा-पुरुष; एकवचन — 3rd singular; ‘becomes like hell’

Speakers

• Narratorial description

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "bibhatsa", "secondaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Hell imagery
• Ritual remnants in cremation grounds
• Inauspicious soundscape

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

External ritual traces (lamps, offerings) do not erase the fundamental truth of mortality; ethical living and inner purification are implied as the real refuge.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Not pañcalakṣaṇa exposition; it is ākhyāna scenery supporting the narrative’s moral pressure.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Hell-like’ indicates a psychological state: when consciousness is dominated by fear, grief, and tamas, even the world appears as naraka.