कस्मिन्संस्थीयते स्थाने विश्रब्धं केन हेतुना । राज्यनाशं सुहृत्त्यागो भार्यातनयविक्रयः
In what place, and for what reason, can one calmly endure the loss of a kingdom, the abandonment of friends, and the sale of wife and son?
हरिश्चन्द्रस्य राजर्षेः किं विधातः कृतं त्वया । इति तस्या वचः श्रुत्वा राजा स्थानच्युतस्तदा
O Creator, what have you done to the royal sage Harishchandra? Hearing her words, the king then lost his composure.
प्रत्यभिज्ञाय देवीं तां पुत्रं च निधनं गतम् । कष्टं ममैव पत्नीयं बालकश्चापि मे सुतः
Recognizing that woman as his queen and seeing his son dead, he thought, 'Alas, it is my own wife and my own young son.'
ज्ञात्वा पपात सन्तप्तो मूर्च्छामतिजगाम ह । सा च तं प्रत्यभिज्ञाय तामवस्थामुपागतम्
Realizing this, he fell down, tormented, and was overcome by fainting; and she, recognizing him and his condition,
मूर्च्छिता निपपातार्ता निश्चेष्टा धरणीतले । चेतनां प्राप्य राजेन्द्रो राजपत्नी च तौ समम्
also fell to the ground, stricken and motionless in her grief. Regaining consciousness, the king and queen both,
विलेपतुः सुसन्तप्तौ शोकभारेण पीडितौ । राजोवाच - हा वत्स सुकुमारं ते वदनं कुञ्चितालकम्
wept bitterly, overwhelmed by the weight of sorrow. The king said: 'Alas, my child, your delicate face with curling locks—
पश्यतो मे मुखं दीनं हृदयं किं न दीर्यते । तात तातेति मधुरं ब्रुवाणं स्वयमागतम्
as I look upon your distressed face, why does my heart not break? Sweetly calling out ‘Father, Father,’ you would come to me.
उपगुह्य कदा वक्ष्ये वत्सवत्सेति सौहृदात् । कस्य जानुप्रणीतेन पिङ्गेन क्षितिरेणुना
When will I, out of affection, embrace you and say, ‘My dear child’? Whose dust-stained knees and tawny limbs,
ममोत्तरीयमुत्सङ्गं तथाङ्गं मलमेष्यति । न वालं मम सम्भूतं मनो हृदयनन्दन
will soil my upper garment and body? Not a single hair of mine, O joy of my heart, was produced by you.
(मयासि पितृमान्पित्रा विक्रीतो येन वस्तुवत् ।) गतं राज्यमशेषं मे सबान्धवधनं महत् । (हीनदैवान्नृशंसेन दृष्टो मे तनयस्ततः ।) अहं महाहिदष्टस्य पुत्रस्याननपङ्कजम्
(You have a father in me, yet I sold you as if you were a mere object.) My entire kingdom, along with my great wealth and relatives, is gone. (Because of cruel fate, my son was seen by me in such a state.) Now I behold the lotus face of my son, bitten by a great serpent.
निरीक्षन्नद्य घोरेण विषेणाधिकृतोऽधुना । एवमुक्त्वा तमादाय बालकं बाष्पगद्गदः
Today I gaze upon him, overtaken by the dreadful poison. Having spoken thus, he took the boy in his arms, his voice choked with tears.
परिष्वज्य च निश्चेष्टो मूर्च्छया निपपात ह । ततस्तं पतितं दृष्ट्वा शैव्या चैवमचिन्तयत्
Embracing him, he became motionless and fell unconscious. Seeing him fallen, Shaivya thought thus:
अयं स पुरुषव्याघ्रः स्वरेणैवोपलक्ष्यते । विद्वज्जनमनश्चन्द्रो हरिश्चन्द्रो न संशयः
'This is indeed that tiger among men, recognized by his voice—Harishchandra, the moon among the wise, without doubt.'
तथास्य नासिका तुङ्गा तिलपुष्पोपमा शुभा । दन्ताश्च मुकुलप्रख्याः ख्यातकीर्तेर्महात्मनः
His nose is high and beautiful, like a sesame flower; his teeth are like buds—these are the marks of that great-souled, renowned one.
श्मशानमागतः कस्माद्यद्येवं स नरेश्वरः । विहाय पुत्रशोकं सा पश्यन्ती पतितं पतिम्
Why has that lord of men come to the cremation ground in this way? Setting aside her grief for her son, she saw her husband fallen.
प्रहृष्टा विस्मिता दीना भर्तृपुत्रार्तिपीडिता । वीक्षती सा तदापतन्मूर्च्छया धरणीतले
She was at once delighted, astonished, and distressed, afflicted by the suffering of her husband and son. Seeing this, she too fell to the ground in a faint.
प्राप्य चेतश्च शनकैः सा गद्गदमभाषत । धिक्त्वां दैव ह्यकरुण निर्मर्याद जुगुप्सित
Regaining her senses gradually, she spoke in a choked voice: 'Shame on you, O fate—cruel, lawless, and despicable!'
येनायममरप्रख्यो नीतो राजा श्वपाकताम् । राज्यनाशं सुहृत्त्यागं भार्यातनयविक्रयम्
'By whom this king, equal to the immortals, has been brought to the state of a dog-eater—loss of kingdom, abandonment of friends, and the sale of wife and son.'
प्रापयित्वापि येनाद्य चाण्डालोऽयं कृतो नृपः । नाद्य पश्यामि ते छत्रं सिंहासनमथापि वा
Even after bringing him here, by whom today this king has become an outcaste, I do not see your royal umbrella, nor your throne.
चामरव्यजने वापि कोऽयं विधिविपर्ययः । यस्यास्य व्रजतः पूर्वं राजानो भृत्यतां गताः
Nor do I see the royal fans; what is this reversal of fate, by which those kings who once walked before you have now become servants?
स्वोत्तरीयैः प्रकुर्वन्ति विरजस्कं महीतलम् । सोऽयं कपालसंलग्ने घटीपटनिरन्तरे
Those who once covered the earth with their spotless upper garments, now this one, bound with skulls, with the constant sound of the time-measuring bell—
मृतनिर्माल्यसूत्रान्तर्लग्नकेशसुदारुणे । वसानिष्पन्दसंशुष्कमहापटलमण्डिते
Clad in dreadful garlands of remnants from the dead, with hair entangled within, adorned with a great cloth stiff and dry with unmoving fat—
भस्माङ्गारार्धदग्धास्थिमज्जासंघट्टभीषणे । गृध्रगोमायुनादार्ते पुष्टक्षुद्रविहङ्गमे
Frightening with half-burnt ashes, coals, bones, and marrow, tormented by the cries of vultures and jackals, and the shrill calls of small birds—
चिताधूमायतपटे नीलीकृतदिगन्तरे । कुणपास्वादनमुदा सम्प्रकृष्टनिशाचरे
On a cloth blackened by the smoke of the funeral pyre, with the quarters darkened, delighting in the taste of corpses, surrounded by fierce night-wanderers—
चरत्यमेध्ये राजेन्द्रः श्मशाने दुःखपीडितः । एवमुक्त्वाथ संश्लिष्य कण्ठे राज्ञो नृपात्मजा
The king, O lord of kings, wanders in the impure cremation ground, afflicted by sorrow. Having spoken thus, the princess embraced the king’s neck—
कष्टं शोकसमाविष्टा विललापार्तया गिरा । राजन् स्वप्नोऽथ तथ्यं वा यदेतन्मन्यते भवान्
Overcome by grief, she lamented in a voice full of pain: 'O king, is this a dream or reality, as you think?'
तत्कथ्यतां महाभाग मनो वै मुह्यते मम । यद्येतदेव धर्मज्ञ नास्ति धर्मे सहायता
'Tell me, O blessed one, for my mind is bewildered. If this is truly so, O knower of dharma, there is no help in righteousness.'
तथैव विप्रदेवादिपूजने सत्यपालने । नास्ति धर्मः कुतः सत्यं नार्जवं नानृशंसता
'Likewise, in the worship of brahmins, gods, and in the keeping of truth, if there is no dharma, then what truth, what honesty, what compassion can there be?'
यत्र त्वं धर्मपरमः स्वराज्यादवरोपितः । सूत उवाच - इति तस्या वचः श्रुत्वा निःश्वस्योष्णं सगद्गदः
'Where you, devoted to dharma, have been cast down from your own kingdom.' The Sūta said: Hearing her words, he sighed hotly and, his voice choked, replied—
कथयामास तन्वङ्ग्यै यथा प्राप्तः श्वपाकताम् । रुदित्वा सा तु सुचिरं निःश्वस्योष्णं सुदुःखिता
He began to tell the slender-waisted one how he had come to this state of outcaste. She, after weeping for a long time, sighing hotly and deeply distressed—