Chapter XXVI
On the narration of the sorrows of Haris’chandra
1-3. Sûta said :– The King Haris’chandra with his face bent low thus said to the Queen :– “O Young One! I am a great sinner, otherwise why shall I be ready to do this heinous act! However now sit before me. If my hand be capable to kill you, then it will cut off your head.” Thus saying, the King took the axe and moved forward to cut her. As the King did not recognise her as His Queen, so the Queen did not recognise him as Her husband, the King. So the Queen, being very much strained with sorrow, began to utter with a view to court her death.
4-16. O Chândâla! If you like, I say something; hear my son is dead and is lying close to the outer skirts of the city. Wait till I bring my child before you and do his burning ceremonies. Next you can cut me off by your axe. The King said :– “Very well; let that be,” and gave her permission to go to her dead son. Then the Queen, emaciated and pale, her body being covered all over with dust arrived at the burning ground and taking her dead son, bitten by a serpent, on her lap cried out loudly “O Son! O my Child! O my young Son!” and referring to her husband said :– “O King! See, today, the sad condition of your son, lying on the ground, as his bed. My son went to play with other boys and, bitten by a cruel poisonous serpent, left his life.” Hearing the pitiful cry of that helpless woman, the King Haris’chandra went to the dead and took off the cover of his face. Due to the long exile and the difficulties thereof, the Queen was changed altogether in her outer form, so the King could not recognise her weeping as his wife. On the other hand the King, too, had not the curled hair on his head as before; it has turned into matted hair and his skin especially has become like the bark of a dried tree; so the Queen could not make out the King also. The King then noticed all the King making auspicious signs on the several limbs of that dead boy, poisoned all over and lying on the ground and began to think thus :– The face of the child is very beautiful like the Full Moon, nowhere there is any scar nor anything like this; the nose is high; the two cheeks are clean like a mirror and spacious; the hairs are blue, curling, similar, long and waving, the two eyes are widely expanded like a full blown lotus, the two lips are red like Bimba fruits; the chest is wide and spacious, the eyes are stretched up to the ears; the arms are extending up to the knees; the shoulders are elevated; the legs are elongated, yet god-like like a lotus stem; the appearance is grave, the fingers are fine, yet strong enough to hold the world; the navel is deep and the region of the shoulders elevated. Certainly this boy was born in a royal family. Alas! What a pain is this! The cruel Death has reduced him to this state!
17-21. Sûta said :– Thus looking carefully that boy in the lap of his mother from his head to foot, the King Haris’chandra got back to his ancient recollections. He recognised the boy to be his and wept aloud repeating the words Oh! Oh! The tears flowed from his eyes and he said :– “This is my boy that has been reduced to this state! Oh! The cruel Fate!” Though the boy is dead, yet the King remained bewildered for a moment. The queen then spoke out of terrible pain :– “O Child! What sin is that which has caused this dire calamity, I cannot imagine!
22-27. O my Husband! O King! I am extremely worried of pains and troubles; leaving me thus, how is it and where you are passing away your time in a calm, quiet state! O Fortune! It is You that has brought about the loss of the Râjarsi Haris’chandra’s dominion, the separation from his friends and what more, you have caused his wife and son to be sold! Has he done so much mischief to you!” Hearing her cries, the King’s patience gave way and he came to recognise the Devî and the son and exclaimed, “She is my wife and the dead boy is my son. Oh! What a series of troubles, one coming after another.” Being overpowered with extreme trouble and pain, the King fell unconscious on the ground; the Queen, too, looking at the King’s state, fell motionless, and, void of senses, no sooner she recognised him as the King Haris’chandra. Some time after, the King and Queen both got back at the same time their consciousness and, with great sorrow and agony, began to lament.
28-49. The King said :–“O Child! Why my heart does not rend to thousand pieces, seeing today your gentle face pale and lifeless, that was once beautiful with curls of hairs! O Rohitâ! When will you come to me saying in a sweet voice, ‘Father! Father!’ When shall I address you affectionately, ‘Oh my child! Oh my child!’ embracing you within my breast!
50-55. Sûta said :– Hearing these words from the thin S’aivyâ, the King took a heavy sigh and then described to her in detail with tears flowing on his neck, how he got the Chândâla state. The fearful Queen became very much pained to hear all this and heaving a deep sigh, described, as it was, how her son died. On hearing this, the King fainted and fell unconscious on the ground. Then regaining gradually his consciousness, he began to kiss, with his tongue, the face of his dead son. S’aivyâ then said in a choked voice :– “Now sever off my head and obey your master’s word. O King! You will be saved then as having kept your truth; and your master’s order would be carried out.” Hearing this, the King fainted and fell down senseless. Getting up conscious in a moment, he began to weep bitterly.
56. The King said :– “O Beloved! How have you uttered such cruel words? How can I execute that which is hard even to utter!”
57-58. S’aivyâ said :– “O Lord! I have worshipped the Devî Gaurî and other Devas and the Brâhmins; so, with their mercy, I will get you as my husband in my future birth.” Hearing this, the King again fell down instantly on the ground; getting up immediately, he was overpowered with sorrow and began to kiss the face of the dead son.
59-71. The King said :– “O Dear! I won’t be able to suffer an longer for a long time. But, O thin-bodied One! See, I am so very unfortunate that I have no command even over my heart. If I enter into the fire without the permission of the Chândâla, then I will have to become again the slave of a Chândâla in my future birth. Think it over. After that I will have to go to the hell and be tormented there. But this too I find beneficial to me. Rather I will go to the hell Mahâ Raurava and there suffer for a long time the torments of the hell, yet I do not like to live a little longer when my boy, the continuer of my family, has left his life out of the queer fancies of the Great Time and I be merged in the sorrows for my son. My body is now at the command of the Chândâla. How can I in this state quit my life without his permission. If I leave my body, I will be indebted to him and I will have to suffer in hell. Let this be so; still I will leave off my body, the receptacle of all these pains and troubles. Nowhere, in the Triloki, is any pain like that felt in the demise of a son, not in crossing the Vaitaranî nor in the Asipatravanam! So I will now throw myself on the burning fire along with the dead body of my son. So, O Thin-bodied One! You should now excuse me (i.e., do not prevent me). O Sweet-smiling One! I now permit you to go back to the house of the Brâhmin. If ever I have given in charity riches, offered oblation to the fire, and given satisfaction to my superiors then, in the other world, I will get you and my son. But there is no such chance now in this world. O Sweet-smiling One! If ever I had given you offence while conversing or making jokes with you, now at the time of my parting, excuse them all. O Auspicious One! Never despise the Brâhmin out of your pride as a Queen. Look on your master as a Deva and try all your best to satisfy him.”
72-73. The Queen said :– “O Râjarsi! I will also throw myself on the burning fire. O Deva! I will not be able to carry on this burden, so I will accompany You. It is better for me to accompany you; so there will not be otherwise. O Giver of Honour! I will enjoy with You heaven or suffer with You in the hell.” Hearing this, the King said :– “O Chaste One! Do as you please.”
Here ends the Twenty-sixth Chapter of the Seventh Book on the narration of the sorrows of Haris’chandra in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.