Shloka 46
Adhyaya 8 — Harishchandra’s Trial: Truth, the Sale of Family, and Bondage to a Chandala
काण्डिग्भूतोऽधमो निःस्वो नृशंसधनिनार्दितः ।
भार्यास्य भूयः प्राहेदं क्रियतां वचनं मम ॥
kāṇḍigbhūto ’dhamo niḥsvo nṛśaṃsa-dhaninārdhitaḥ |
bhāryāsya bhūyaḥ prāhedaṃ kriyatāṃ vacanaṃ mama ||
“沦落至凄惨之境——卑下而贫乏——又被残酷的富人折磨，那人的妻子再次说道：‘当使我的话得以实行。’”
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FAQs
The verse foregrounds adharma in social relations: cruelty backed by wealth reduces a person to misery. It also hints at how household influence (here, the wife’s repeated insistence) can reinforce wrongdoing—an implicit warning that domestic counsel should align with dharma, not intensify oppression.
This is best classified under ‘Vaṃśānucarita/Carita’ (narrative conduct/episode) rather than sarga or manvantara: it is a contextual story-moment illustrating ethical texture within the larger puranic narration.
On a symbolic level, ‘the cruel wealthy oppressor’ can represent the tyrannical ego empowered by accumulated ‘wealth’ (attachments), while the ‘destitute’ state signifies the soul’s impoverishment under oppression. The repeated command (‘kriyatāṃ vacanaṃ mama’) mirrors the compulsive force of habitual impulses that demand enactment until checked by dharmic awakening.