Shloka 17

Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala

Sanskrit

त्यज चिन्तां महाराज स्वसत्यमनुपालय ।

श्मशानवद् वर्जनीयो नरः सत्यबहिष्कृतः ॥

Transliteration

tyaja cintāṃ mahārāja svasatyam anupālaya |

śmaśāna-vad varjanīyo naraḥ satya-bahiṣkṛtaḥ ||

Translation

మహారాజా, చింతను విడిచిపెట్టండి; మీ స్వసత్యాన్ని నిలుపుకోండి. సత్యం నుండి పడిపోయిన మనిషిని దూరంగా ఉంచాలి—శ్మశానంలాగా.

Word by Word

• tyaja: abandon
• tyaja: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √tyaj (धातु)
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• cintām: worry, anxiety
• cintām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: cintā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• mahā-rāja: O great king
• mahā-rāja: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + rājan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (सम्बोधन), Singular (एकवचन); कर्मधारय address

• sva-satyam: your own truth/promise
• sva-satyam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + satya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: ‘one’s own truth/promise’

• anupālaya: protect, uphold
• anupālaya: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √pāl (धातु)
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद); with anu-

• śmaśāna-vat: like a cremation-ground
• śmaśāna-vat: Upamā/Comparison (उपमा)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: śmaśāna (प्रातिपदिक) + vat (तद्धित-प्रत्यय)
• Form: Avyaya (अव्यय), indeclinable comparative in -vat (वत्) meaning ‘like’

• varjanīyaḥ: to be avoided
• varjanīyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: varjanīya (कृदन्त; √vṛj/√varj (धातु) + anīya/णीय)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); gerundive (णीय) ‘to be avoided’

• naraḥ: a man
• naraḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• satya-bahiṣkṛtaḥ: one who has forsaken truth
• satya-bahiṣkṛtaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: satya (प्रातिपदिक) + bahiṣkṛta (कृदन्त; bahis + √kṛ (धातु) + kta)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुष: ‘excluded from truth’ / ‘one who has cast out truth’ (context: one who has abandoned truth)

Speakers

• Unspecified in input (didactic address to a king: “mahārāja” indicates counsel given to a ruler within the narrative frame)

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "bhakti", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Satya (truthfulness)
• Raja-dharma (ethics of kingship)
• Social conduct and discernment

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse teaches that inner steadiness (freedom from anxious brooding) is grounded in satya—integrity and truthfulness. For a ruler especially, keeping one’s pledged word and commitment to truth is the stabilizing axis of dharma. Conversely, habitual untruth is treated as a moral pollution: association with the untruthful is discouraged, not out of hatred, but as protective discernment for one’s own dharmic life and public order.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

This verse is primarily dharma-śikṣā (ethical instruction) rather than one of the five purāṇic markers. It most closely aligns indirectly with ‘Manvantara/vaṃśānucarita’ sections insofar as kings are instructed in rāja-dharma within historical/genealogical narratives, but the content itself is normative teaching (ācāra/dharma) rather than sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita.

What is the esoteric significance?

“Cremation ground” (śmaśāna) symbolizes the liminal zone where ordinary social order dissolves. Calling the untruthful ‘śmaśāna-vat’ implies that falsehood creates a psychic and moral liminality—an inner death of trust and coherence. Satya is thus not merely factual accuracy but the life-principle of alignment (between speech, mind, and action); when that alignment is lost, the person becomes spiritually ‘inhabitable’ for dharmic companionship.