Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
इति तस्याः वचः श्रुत्वा राजा स्वस्थानतश्च्युतः ।
प्रत्यभिज्ञाय दयितां पुत्रञ्च निधनं गतम् ॥
iti tasyā vacaḥ śrutvā rājā svasthānataś cyutaḥ | pratyabhijñāya dayitāṃ putraṃ ca nidhanaṃ gatam ||
听到她的话,国王从镇定中被震动。认出自己挚爱的王后与那已赴死的儿子,他被悲痛所淹没。
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The verse foregrounds the destabilizing power of attachment (rāga) and grief (śoka): even a king, trained in self-control, collapses when confronted with personal loss—setting up the later Purāṇic movement toward discernment (viveka) and refuge in dharma.
Primarily Ākhyāna/Upākhyāna (narrative episode) rather than sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa. It functions as moral-psychological framing within the Purāṇic storytelling method.
The ‘fall from composure’ symbolizes the jīva’s fall from inner sovereignty when identity is bound to roles (king, husband, father). Recognition (pratyabhijñā) here is worldly; later teaching typically redirects recognition toward the Self and the divine ground.