Shloka 49
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
प्राह भद्रे करोम्येष विक्रयं तव निर्घृणः ।
नृशंसैरपि यत् कर्तुं न शक्यं तत् करोम्यहम् ॥
यदि मे शक्यते वाणी वक्तुमीदृक् सुदुर्वचः ।
एवमुक्त्वा ततो भार्यां गत्वा नागरमातुरः ।
बाष्पापिहितकण्ठाक्षस्ततो वचनमब्रवीत् ॥
prāha bhadre karomyeṣa vikrayaṃ tava nirghṛṇaḥ |
nṛśaṃsair api yad kartuṃ na śakyaṃ tat karomy aham |
yadi me śakyate vāṇī vaktum īdṛk sudurvacaḥ |
evam uktvā tato bhāryāṃ gatvā nāgaram āturaḥ |
bāṣpāpihita-kaṇṭhākṣas tato vacanam abravīt ||
Sinabi niya, “O mabuting ginang, ako—walang habag—ay ipagbibili ka. Ginagawa ko ang bagay na kahit ang malulupit na lalaki ay hindi kayang sikmurain. Kung ang aking tinig ay kaya pang bumigkas ng gayong mabagsik na salita…” Pagkasabi nito, lumapit siya sa kanyang asawa; nababagabag, at ang lalamunan at mga mata’y nabara ng luha, nagsalita pa siya.
FAQs
The verse highlights the inner fracture that occurs when one violates fundamental dharma: the speaker recognizes the act (selling one’s wife) as beyond even the standard of the cruel, and his tears show conscience persisting despite moral failure. The ethical lesson is twofold—(1) adharma is self-tormenting even before it yields external consequences, and (2) speech itself becomes constrained when one attempts to rationalize grievous wrongdoing.
This passage is best classified under Vamśānucarita/Carita-like narrative and Dharma-śikṣā (ethical instruction through story), rather than Sarga (creation), Pratisarga, Manvantara, or Vaṃśa (genealogy). It functions as an illustrative episode within the Purana’s didactic narrative framework.
Symbolically, “selling the wife” can be read as the selling away of one’s śrī (fortune), gṛha-lakṣmī (the sanctity and prosperity of the household), and moral center for temporary gain. The tears choking throat and eyes suggest the blockage of both right speech (satya/vāk) and right vision (viveka). The narrative thus encodes a warning: when dharma is commodified, perception and expression themselves become impaired.