Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 8, Shloka 184
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
इति तस्याः वचः श्रुत्वा राजा स्वस्थानतश्च्युतः ।
प्रत्यभिज्ञाय दयितां पुत्रञ्च निधनं गतम् ॥
iti tasyā vacaḥ śrutvā rājā svasthānataś cyutaḥ | pratyabhijñāya dayitāṃ putraṃ ca nidhanaṃ gatam ||
Nang marinig ang kanyang mga salita, nayanig ang hari at nawala ang kanyang pagpipigil. Nakilala niya ang minamahal na reyna at ang anak na napasa-kamatayan, at siya’y nilamon ng dalamhati.
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FAQs
The verse foregrounds the destabilizing power of attachment (rāga) and grief (śoka): even a king, trained in self-control, collapses when confronted with personal loss—setting up the later Purāṇic movement toward discernment (viveka) and refuge in dharma.
Primarily Ākhyāna/Upākhyāna (narrative episode) rather than sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa. It functions as moral-psychological framing within the Purāṇic storytelling method.
The ‘fall from composure’ symbolizes the jīva’s fall from inner sovereignty when identity is bound to roles (king, husband, father). Recognition (pratyabhijñā) here is worldly; later teaching typically redirects recognition toward the Self and the divine ground.