Adhyaya 7 — Harishchandra Tested by Vishvamitra: The Gift of the Kingdom and the Pandava Curse-Backstory
सर्वमेतत् परित्यज्य छायाभूता वयं तव ।
हानाथ हा महाराज हा स्वामिन् किं जहासि नः ॥
sarvam etat parityajya chāyā-bhūtā vayaṃ tava |
hā nātha hā mahārāja hā svāmin kiṃ jahāsi naḥ ||
เมื่อสละทุกสิ่งแล้ว พวกเราก็เป็นดุจเงาของท่าน. โอ้ผู้พิทักษ์! โอ้มหาราชา! โอ้เจ้านาย—เหตุใดท่านจึงทอดทิ้งพวกเรา?
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The verse dramatizes the dharmic bond between protector and protected: those who have surrendered their independent supports become ‘like a shadow’ of the lord, and abandonment of such dependents is portrayed as a grave ethical rupture. It underscores the ideal of rāja-dharma—sustaining those who rely on one’s protection.
This verse is not directly a pañcalakṣaṇa unit (sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita). It functions as vaṃśānucarita-style narrative texture (character-situation and moral pressure) within the Purana’s storytelling rather than cosmological enumeration.
‘Shadow’ (chāyā) imagery signals the dissolution of separate agency: the dependents mirror the lord’s movement and fate. Esoterically, it resembles the devotional model where the jīva, having relinquished other ‘supports,’ seeks the single refuge of the sovereign principle; the cry ‘why abandon us?’ becomes the existential plea for continued grace/protection.