Shloka 40
Adhyaya 7 — Harishchandra Tested by Vishvamitra: The Gift of the Kingdom and the Pandava Curse-Backstory
प्रतिश्रुत्य च दातव्यं योद्धव्यं चाततायिभिः ।
रक्षितव्यास्तथा चार्तास्त्वयैव प्राक् प्रतिश्रुतम् ॥
pratiśrutya ca dātavyaṃ yoddhavyaṃ cātatāyibhiḥ | rakṣitavyās tathā cārtās tvayaiva prāk pratiśrutam ||
“Đã hứa thì nhất định phải trao; và phải chiến đấu với kẻ xâm lăng hung bạo. Cũng vậy, người khốn khổ phải được che chở—đó chính là điều ngài tự mình đã hứa trước đây.”
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FAQs
Dharma is framed as obligation arising from one’s word and one’s role: a promise creates a binding moral duty (dātavyam), and social order is upheld by resisting predatory violence (ātatāyin). Compassion is not merely sentiment; it becomes a concrete mandate to protect the ārtas (the afflicted), especially when one has already pledged to do so.
This verse aligns most closely with Dharma/ācāra-style instruction rather than the Purāṇic pañcalakṣaṇa categories (sarga, pratisarga, vaṃśa, manvantara, vaṃśānucarita). It is best classified as ethical guidance embedded within narrative, not as cosmology or genealogy.
On a symbolic level, ‘ātatāyin’ can represent disruptive forces (inner impulses such as anger, greed, cruelty) that assault the moral self; ‘protecting the afflicted’ points to safeguarding one’s vulnerable faculties—discernment (viveka) and conscience—from such invasions. The reminder of an earlier vow emphasizes saṅkalpa-śakti: spiritual integrity depends on honoring one’s consciously made commitments.