Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
सप्तवर्षं मृतात्मानं पुक्कसत्वे ददर्श ह ।
दिनं दिनन्तु नरके दह्यते पच्यतेऽन्यतः ॥
saptavarṣaṃ mṛtātmānaṃ pukkasatve dadarśa ha |
dinaṃ dinantu narake dahyate pacyate 'nyataḥ ||
स सप्त वर्षाणि तं मृतात्मानं पुक्कसभावे ददर्श; नरकेऽह्न्यह्नि स दह्यते, अन्यत्र पच्यते।
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Karmic effects can be prolonged and multi-modal: suffering is not a single event but a sustained, varied sequence, underscoring the seriousness of offenses against dharma.
Not pancalakṣaṇa; it is karmaphala/naraka narration.
‘Seven years’ can function symbolically as a complete cycle of experiential purification; shifting torments (‘burned’/‘cooked’) indicate the mind cycling through different intensities of remorse and reaction.