Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 8, Shloka 173
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
राजपत्नी उवाच—
हा राजन्नद्य बालं त्वं पश्य सोमं महीतले ।
रममाणं पुरा दृष्टं दुष्टाहिना मृतम् ॥
rājapatny uvāca—hā rājann adya bālaṃ tvaṃ paśya somaṃ mahītale / ramamāṇaṃ purā dṛṣṭaṃ duṣṭāhinā mṛtam
Hoàng hậu thưa: “Than ôi, tâu bệ hạ—hôm nay xin hãy nhìn đứa trẻ, như vầng trăng, đang nằm trên đất. Mới trước còn thấy nó vui đùa, nay đã bị con rắn độc ác giết hại.”
{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
The verse intensifies the lesson of anityatā (impermanence): what was ‘ramamāṇa’ (playing) becomes ‘mṛta’ (dead) without warning; it urges compassionate realism and a turn toward higher dharma/refuge beyond fragile worldly happiness.
Carita: an emotional-narrative unit used for instruction; not an explicit pancalakṣaṇa passage.
The ‘moon-like’ child fallen to earth symbolizes the descent of luminous consciousness into mortality; the ‘wicked serpent’ can be read as kāla (time) striking suddenly, collapsing the illusion of continuity between ‘before’ and ‘now’.