Raja Harischandra – The Virtuous King
A long clip ago, the land of Ayodhya was ruled over by a really honorable male monarch, Harischandra. Harischandra ruled over his land wisely.He was really honorable and ever kept his word. Indeed his people were proud of their swayer. His land flourished and people were happy.
However, destiny had something wholly different in shop for him. Wondering if Harischandra would be true even in dire passs, the Gods decided to prove him. They took the aid of Sage Vishwamitra.
One bright twenty-four hours, Harischandra went runing in the wood. It was a lovely twenty-four hours and a cool zephyr carried the odor of flowers. Harishchandra breathed profoundly, “Life was good.”
Suddenly the high pitched shriek of a adult female broke the hush of the topographic point. Harishchandra was startled. He rode in the way of the shriek. After siting for some clip, he came towards a little ashram. He could hear the shriek piercing through the trees. Harischandra entered the ashram. He realized that he had entered the ashram of Sage Vishwamitra. The sage was known for his hot pique.
Harischandra hoped that the sage would non believe that he was intruding. Slowly he stepped indoors and stopped short! Right in forepart of him under a tree Saturday Vishwamitra. The sage had his eyes unfastened and he was glowering at Harischandra, ”You dare enter my ashram and upset its sanctity.”
Harishchandra quaked with fright. He bowed before the sage, “Forgive me, revered one, I heard a adult female shriek and it seemed to come from this ashram.”
Vishwamitra quelled Harischandra with a glance.”What shriek are you speaking about O male monarch? ” Harishchandra looked baffled, for so the ashram was so still that one could even hear a blade of grass traveling. Had he been woolgathering? Had he non heard a shriek?
“You have the audaciousness to stand before me without any compunction. You have disturbed my speculation. You must pay the monetary value for it.” The sage’s voice was rough with choler.
Harishchandra was worried ; the touchy sage was known to cuss people over fiddling affairs. Would he be spared? He bowed low, ”Revered one, I will make anything to pacify your anger.”
“Is that so? ” asked Vishwamitra. “Will you give me anything that I ask for? Remember you can non travel back on your word.”
Harishchandra was house ; he would give the sage whatever he asked for.
“Very good! You trespassed into my ashram, it is merely right that you give me your full kingdom.”
Harishchandra was shocked, but he bowed his caput and agreed to the sage’s demand.
As he turned back, Vishwamitra’s voice halted him, “Where is your dakshina? Without dakshina how can you do a contribution? ”
“I have given you everything, sire, I have nil left for myself.” But Vishwamitra was inexorable that he be paid his dakshina. Finally, Vishwamitra agreed to give him a month to pay his dakshina.
Harishchandra left his land and decided to travel to Varanasi along with his married woman Taramati and boy Rohitashwa. In Kashi, he could happen no employment. One month was coming to an terminal. What would he make?
His married woman, Taramati who was as virtuous and honest as him, requested him to sell her as a slave so that he could raise the money. With a heavy bosom, Harishchandra agred to make so and took her to the slave market.
A Brahmin decided to purchase Taramati. As she was being led off, Rohitaswa began to shout. Unable to bear his son’s cryings, Harishchandra begged the Brahmin to take his boy along besides. The Brahmin agreed, and so the female parent and the boy went along. Harishchandra held back his cryings till they were no longer in sight.
However the money he collected was non plenty to pay the dakshina and Harishchandra decided to sell himself. He sold himself as a slave to a chandala ( individual who works in a cremation land ) . He had eventually collected the sum for dakshina. After paying Vishwamitra, he started working in the cremation land.
Time flew quickly…Taramati worked at the Brahmin’s topographic point. The Brahmin was barbarous and treated her harshly. She missed Harishchandra and frequently wondered about him.
One twenty-four hours as Rohitashwa plucked flowers in the garden ; a wicked looking serpent glided by and seize with teeth him on the mortise joint. Rohitashwa fell unconscious. Taramati was devastated, she tried her best to resuscitate her boy but to no help. In no clip Rohitashwa’s organic structure turned bluish and he was no more.
Eyess brimming with cryings, Taramati carried her son’s organic structure to the crematory. ”Please sir, ” she requested Harishchandra, “I need to bury my son.”
Harischandra was shocked to see his married woman and boy. What had happened to his beloved Taramati? She who was ever smiling and beautiful, now looked worn and Haggard. And Rohitashwa? Was this the terminal for his beloved kid? Why were the destinies so unkind to him?
But he remembered his responsibility ; he was besides a grave diggers assistant. “Unless you pay me the fees, I can non cremate the body.” he said with a heavy bosom.
Taramati wept, “My maestro is a difficult taskmaster ; he is already kicking that I have wasted clip for my boy. He will non give me money for the burial.” Harischandra was inexorable, “I have to make my responsibility ; I can non cremate the organic structure if you can non pay the tax.”
Taramati wept as though her bosom would interrupt. Rohitashwa a high born prince could non be offered a nice entombment because his female parent had no money.In desperation she turned towards her hubby, “Sir, I have nil to offer except my apparels. Take them if you wish, as payment.”
Heartbroken, Harischandra agreed to take her saree. Be this how things would stop? Was there to be no terminal to this lunacy? He turned to Taramati, “There is nil to look frontward to in life. Our darling boy is gone. Let us leap into the fire with him.” Taramati crying mutely agreed.
Merely as she started to rupture off her saree, the celestial spheres thundered with hand clapping and Vishnu appeared with all the Gods.
Vishwamitra appeared before the male monarch, ”O King, you have faced troubles because the Gods wanted to prove you. You have proved that you are so true and virtuous. You can travel back to your kingdom.”
At that minute Rohitashwa woke up and rubbed his eyes as though he had woken up from a deep slumber. Harischandra was enraptured to see his boy alive, but he did non bury his responsibility. Bowing before the sage he said, “ I thank you O great one for your sort words, but I am the slave of a chandala and my married woman the slave of a Brahmin. As slaves we can non accept anything.”
Vishwamitra smiled, “Look, there are the chandala and the brahmin.”
Harischandra saw the chandala and the Brahmin approaching towards them. As they walked towards him, Harischandra realized that the Brahmin was Indra and the chandala was Yama. They smiled at him, “We wanted to prove you O King and you have passed with winging colours.”
Indra asked Harischandra to travel to heaven with him, Harishchandra refused, “How can I travel to heaven when my people suffer on Earth. You must take my people along with me to heaven.”
Indra smiled, “O righteous male monarch, people go to heaven depending on their karma” .
In that instance said Harischandra, “Take away all my virtuousnesss and give it to my topics that they may travel to heaven and I will bear their sins.”
The Gods smiled at Harischandra’s love for his topics. They took the people of Ayodhya to heaven. Vishwamitra brought new people to Ayodhya, and Rohitashwa ruled over Ayodhya.
Today, the name of Harischandra is ever used when one negotiations of truthfulness and honestness.
Word Galaxy
|
diamond |
declining to alter one’s head |
|
audaciousness |
disrespectful behavior |
|
dire passs |
deep problem |
|
Haggard |
looking tired or exhausted from problem or agony |
|
quelled |
silence person |
|
intruding |
enter someone’s land or belongings without permission |
Question clip
- Fill in the Blanks.
- Harischandra ruled over — — — — — — .
- Vishwamitra wanted Harischandra to give him his — — — — — .
- Taramati was sold to a — — — — — — — .
- The chandala was really — — — — — — .
- Answer the undermentioned inquiries.
- Why was Sage Vishwamitra angry with Harischandra? What did he demand from Harischandra?
- Why did Harischandra travel to the slave market along with his married woman and boy? What happened at the slave market?
- Why did Harischandra garbage to travel to heaven?
- What is the moral of the narrative?
