Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
एवं स निवसन्नित्यं सस्मार दयितं सुतम् ।
आर्याञ्चात्मसमाविष्टां हृतसर्वस्व आतुरः ॥
evaṃ sa nivasan nityaṃ sasmāra dayitaṃ sutam | āryāṃ cātma-samāviṣṭāṃ hṛta-sarvasva āturaḥ ||
ఇలా అక్కడ నిరంతరం నివసిస్తూ అతడు తన ప్రియ కుమారుని మళ్లీ మళ్లీ స్మరించేవాడు; సర్వస్వం కోల్పోయి దుఃఖితుడై, హృదయంలో లోతుగా నిలిచిన తన సతీమణిని కూడా తలచేవాడు।
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Even when worldly supports are lost (hṛta-sarvasva), the mind clings to its deepest attachments—family, identity, and emotional bonds—revealing how saṃsāric suffering persists through remembrance and fixation. The verse prepares the ground for the teaching that liberation begins by recognizing this bondage and seeking a higher refuge.
This verse is primarily narrative/ethical instruction within the Purāṇic kathā rather than a direct exposition of the pañcalakṣaṇa topics (sarga, pratisarga, vaṃśa, manvantara, vaṃśānucarita). It most closely aligns with vaṃśānucarita/kathā-style character episode (conduct and inner state of a key figure) that supports the Devi Mahatmyam’s theological aim.
The ‘beloved son’ and ‘noble wife’ symbolize the mind’s two strong cords—continuity (lineage/future through the son) and intimacy/identity (the spouse ‘entered into the self’). Their recollection, even after dispossession, shows that inner impressions (saṃskāras) outlast external loss; this tension becomes the impetus that turns the seeker toward the Goddess as the power who can both bind through māyā and release through grace.