Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
पुत्रस्ते शोच्यतां प्राप्तो भार्यंयाः शैव्यया सह । स नापश्यत् पुनरपि धावमानः पुनः पुनः ॥
putras te śocyatāṃ prāpto bhāryāṃyāḥ śaivyayā saha / sa nāpaśyat punar api dhāvamānaḥ punaḥ punaḥ
(அவள் கூறினாள்:) “உன் மகன், உன் மனைவி ஷைவ்யாவுடன் சேர்ந்து, இரங்கத்தக்க நிலையடைந்தான்.” ஆனால் அவன் மீண்டும் அவர்களை காணவில்லை; பலமுறை ஓடியும் பயனில்லை.
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Running ‘again and again’ without finding relief illustrates that grief cannot be solved by frantic action; the Purāṇic remedy is dharma, repentance, and inner reorientation rather than compulsive pursuit.
Didactic narrative (ākhyāna) aimed at moral instruction; tangential to Vaṃśa only insofar as characters belong to royal lines.
The repeated running is a metaphor for saṃsāric seeking—endless motion without fulfillment—until one turns toward knowledge (jñāna) and detachment (vairāgya).