Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
श्मशानमागतः कस्मादद्यैष स नरेश्वरः ।
अपहाय पुत्रशोकं सापश्यत् पतितं पतिम् ॥
śmaśānam āgataḥ kasmād adyaiṣa sa nareśvaraḥ |
apahāya putra-śokaṃ sāpaśyat patitaṃ patim ||
“இன்று அந்த நராதிபதி ஏன் சுடுகாட்டிற்கு வந்தார்?” என்று, மகன் துயரை ஒதுக்கி, அவள் கணவன் தரையில் விழுந்திருப்பதைக் கண்டாள்.
{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
The verse portrays compounded sorrow and the mind’s forced reprioritization in disaster—personal grief yields to a larger shock, illustrating how saṃsāra delivers layered trials.
Didactic narrative (ākhyāna) rather than cosmological or genealogical pañcalakṣaṇa content.
The cremation-ground symbolizes the truth of endings; meeting the ‘fallen king’ there dramatizes the stripping away of worldly sovereignty before mortality.