Shloka 27
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
हा हा कथं त्वया शक्यं वक्तुमेतत् शुचिस्मिते ।
दुर्वाच्यमेतद्वचनं कर्तुं शक्नोम्यहं कथम् ॥
hā hā kathaṃ tvayā śakyaṃ vaktum etat śucismite /
durvācyam etad vacanaṃ kartuṃ śaknomy ahaṃ katham //
“Than ôi, than ôi! Sao nàng có thể nói điều ấy, hỡi người có nụ cười thanh khiết? Đó là lời lẽ khắc nghiệt, không đúng phép—làm sao ta có thể tự ép mình thốt ra những lời như vậy?”
FAQs
The verse foregrounds vāg-saṃyama—restraint and discernment in speech. Even under provocation or intense circumstance, one should avoid words that are ‘durvācyam’ (improper/harsh/indecent), because speech is treated as a moral act with consequences in dharma literature.
This verse is primarily narrative-dialogic within a sacred history/teaching section rather than a direct treatment of sarga (creation), pratisarga, vaṃśa (genealogies), manvantara, or vaṃśānucarita. It most closely aligns with vaṃśānucarita/itihāsa-style narration insofar as it is part of the Purāṇic storytelling frame, but it is not a pancalakṣaṇa data-point itself.
On an inner-reading, ‘durvācyam’ can indicate the tamasic impulse toward corrosive or degrading speech, while the reluctance to utter it signals the sattvic guarding of vāk (speech as śakti). The address ‘śucismite’ evokes purity/clarity: the purified mind recoils from speech that would thicken ignorance or intensify hostility.