Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
एवं दिनं वर्षशत-प्रमाणं नरकेऽभवत् ।
तथा वर्षशतं तत्र श्रीवितं नरके भटैः ॥
evaṃ dinaṃ varṣaśata-pramāṇaṃ narake 'bhavat |
tathā varṣaśataṃ tatra śrīvitaṃ narake bhaṭaiḥ ||
இவ்வாறு அந்நரகத்தில் ஒரு நாள் நூறு ஆண்டுகளுக்கு ஒப்பானதாக ஆனது. அதுபோல யமதூதர்களால் தண்டிக்கப்பட்டு, அவன் நரகத்தில் நூறு ஆண்டுகள் ‘வாழ்ந்தது போல’ கழித்தான்।
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The verse intensifies accountability by portraying disproportionate time-experience: a brief moral lapse can yield vast experiential consequence, urging vigilance in conduct and restraint toward adharmic impulses.
Not pancalakṣaṇa; it is naraka-kāla (hell-time) description used for dharma instruction.
Time dilation suggests that in subtler states, experience is mind-dense: a single ‘day’ can contain enormous suffering because consciousness is fully exposed to its own karmic impressions without ordinary distractions.