Shloka 183

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

Sanskrit

राज्यनाशः सुहृत्त्यागो भार्यातनयविक्रयः ।

हरिश्चन्द्रस्य राजर्षेः किं विधे ! न कृतं त्वया ॥

Transliteration

rājy anāśaḥ suhṛttyāgo bhāryātanayavikrayaḥ | harīścandrasya rājarṣeḥ kiṃ vidhe! na kṛtaṃ tvayā ||

Translation

राज्यभ्रंशः सुहृद्वियोगः भार्यापुत्रविक्रयश्च—हे विधे! राजर्षेः हरिश्चन्द्रस्य किं न कृतवानसि?

Word by Word

• rājya-nāśaḥ: loss of the kingdom
• rājya-nāśaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājya (प्रातिपदिक) + nāśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (determinative: ‘destruction of kingdom’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• suhṛt-tyāgaḥ: abandonment of friends
• suhṛt-tyāgaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: suhṛt (प्रातिपदिक) + tyāga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘abandoning friends’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• bhāryā-tanaya-vikrayaḥ: sale of (his) wife and son
• bhāryā-tanaya-vikrayaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāryā (प्रातिपदिक) + tanaya (प्रातिपदिक) + vikraya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुपद-तत्पुरुष-समास (‘sale of wife and son’); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• hariścandrasya: of Hariścandra
• hariścandrasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hariścandra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; proper name

• rāja-ṛṣeḥ: of the royal sage
• rāja-ṛṣeḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक) + ṛṣi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘royal sage’); पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; in apposition to hariścandrasya

• kim: what?
• kim: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रश्न (interrogative particle)

• vidhe: O Fate!
• vidhe: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vidhātṛ/vidhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन; ‘O Fate/Ordainer!’

• na: not
• na: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध (negation particle)

• kṛtam: done
• kṛtam: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; with na: ‘not done’

• tvayā: by you
• tvayā: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuṣmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया, एकवचन; pronoun ‘by you’

Speakers

• Rājapatnī (the queen)
• lamenting and addressing Vidhi (Fate)

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "raudra", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Harīścandra’s trials
• Fate vs. human effort
• Dharma under extreme adversity
• Social catastrophe

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Harīścandra is portrayed as a dharma-exemplar tested to the limit; the piling up of losses dramatizes steadfastness and truthfulness as virtues that must endure even when social supports collapse.

How does this fit the Pancalakṣaṇa (5 characteristics)?

Vaṃśa/ākhyāna-oriented exemplary history: a moral case-study of a famed king, used to teach dharma rather than to detail sarga/pratisarga.

What is the esoteric significance?

The stripping away—kingdom, allies, family—enacts a forced renunciation, exposing the Self’s dependence on externals. Addressing ‘Vidhi’ frames the ordeal as an ordained purification, where identity is reduced to bare truth (satya).