Shloka 70
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
हा प्रिये! हा शिशो! नत्स! ममानार्यस्य दुर्नयैः ।
दैवाधीनां दशां प्राप्तो न मृतोऽस्मि तथापि धिक् ॥
hā priye! hā śiśo! natsa! mamānāryasya durnayaiḥ /
daivādhīnāṃ daśāṃ prāpto na mṛto 'smi tathāpi dhik
“Than ôi, người yêu dấu! Than ôi, con của ta! Than ôi, Natsa! Vì hạnh kiểm ác của ta—một kẻ hèn mọn—ta đã rơi vào cảnh phải lệ thuộc vào số mệnh. Thế mà ta vẫn chưa chết; thật đáng hổ thẹn cho ta, dẫu là như vậy.”
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FAQs
The verse dramatizes the inner collapse that follows adharma or poor judgment: the king blames his own ‘durnaya’ (misguided conduct) for his fall, yet also recognizes how suffering feels ‘daivādhīna’ (as if ruled by fate). The ethical lesson is twofold: accept responsibility for one’s choices, and observe how attachment (to spouse/child/household) persists even amid ruin—setting up the need for higher refuge and right knowledge.
This verse belongs to the narrative (ākhyāna) portion within the Devi Mahatmyam section and is not directly a sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita statement. Indirectly, it supports vaṃśānucarita/character-history by portraying the moral-psychological condition of King Suratha, whose story becomes the occasion for the Goddess’s revelation.
Suratha’s cries (‘hā…hā…’) and the final ‘dhik’ indicate the ego’s breaking point: worldly identity (king/husband/father) confronts impermanence and guilt. In Devi Mahatmyam’s inner logic, this crisis is a preparatory purification—when human supports fail and the mind sees its bondage (attachment plus remorse), it becomes fit to seek the Devī as the deeper ground beyond both ‘karma’ and the felt tyranny of ‘daiva.’