Shloka 81
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
अथाजगाम त्वरितो धर्मश्चाण्डालरूपधृक् ।
दुर्गन्धो विकृतो रूक्षः श्मश्रुलो दन्तुरो घृणी ॥
athājagāma tvarito dharmaś caṇḍālarūpadhṛk / durgandho vikṛto rūkṣaḥ śmaśrulo danturo ghṛṇī
अथ धर्मः शीघ्रम् आगात् चाण्डालरूपं समास्थितः। दुर्गन्धो विकृताकारः कठोरः श्मश्रुधरः कुटिलदन्तो जुगुप्सितः प्रादुरभवत्॥
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FAQs
The verse underscores that Dharma may appear in forms society instinctively rejects. Ethical discernment is tested when righteousness comes clothed in poverty, impurity, or social stigma. The lesson is to judge conduct and truth, not mere external markers (smell, deformity, caste-coded appearance).
This passage aligns most closely with Vaṁśānucarita/Carita (didactic narrative exemplifying conduct) rather than sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṁśa as cosmological catalogues. It functions as an ethical episode within the Purana’s instructive storytelling.
Dharma’s ‘caṇḍāla’ guise symbolizes the veil (āvaraṇa) that hides truth beneath aversion (ghṛṇā). The seeker’s inner purity is measured by whether they can recognize the real (dharma-tattva) when the senses and social conditioning recoil.