English
The Truth of King Harishchandra
Source: Markandeya Purana, chapters 7–8 (the Harishchandra episode)
King Harishchandra of Ayodhya was famous for his truthfulness. In his kingdom there was no famine, no disease, no injustice.
One day, while hunting in the forest, he heard women weeping. "Do not fear, I am coming!" the king cried, and ran towards the sound. There the sage Vishvamitra was engaged in a spiritual practice, and the king's intrusion broke it. The sage was enraged.
The king folded his hands and asked forgiveness, saying that a king's duty is to give, and the sage could ask for anything. Vishvamitra said, "Then give me your whole kingdom." Without hesitation, Harishchandra gave it all away.
Then the sage said, "A gift must be followed by a dakshina, an offering of fee." The king now had nothing left. He asked for a month's time, and went to Kashi with his wife Shaibya and their young son Rohitashva.
The month ended, and still there was no fee. Then Shaibya herself said, "Sell me, but do not break your word." With a heavy heart the king sold his wife to a Brahmin; the boy Rohitashva went with his mother.
When the fee was still not complete, Harishchandra sold himself to a chandala, a keeper of the cremation ground. The king of Ayodhya was now a servant at the burning ghat, whose job was to collect the cremation fee for every funeral.
One night a woman came weeping to the cremation ground. In her arms was the body of a boy who had died of snakebite. The king stepped forward to ask for the fee... and her voice seemed strangely familiar.
It was Shaibya, and in her arms was their only son Rohitashva, who had gone into the forest and died there of a snakebite. Recognising each other in such a state, the king and queen broke down. For a long time they wept together, remembering the palace they had lost and the child they had raised.
In that hour of sorrow they resolved that they would not live without their son; they would give up their lives on the same pyre. The pyre was prepared, and the king closed his eyes and meditated on Lord Narayana.
At that moment the sky filled with light. Dharma, Indra and all the gods appeared, and with them the sage Vishvamitra. Dharma said, "King, do not do this. We are all pleased with your truthfulness, patience and endurance."
Indra showered nectar, and Rohitashva sat up as if waking from sleep. Then the king learned that the chandala he had served was Dharma himself, who had been testing him.
Indra invited Harishchandra and his wife to heaven. But the king said, "My people have suffered in my absence. I will not go to heaven alone and leave them behind." Seeing this love for his subjects, Indra agreed, and the people of Ayodhya went to heaven with their king.
Rohitashva was crowned on the throne of Ayodhya, and the royal line continued.
Harishchandra lost his kingdom, was parted from his family, fell from king to servant of the cremation ground, yet never for a moment wavered from his word. That is why, to this day, a person who keeps their word is called a truthful Harishchandra.
What this story teaches
The path of truth can be hard, but in the end it is what lifts a person highest.
This retelling follows the Markandeya Purana. Some other texts and popular plays add episodes such as the king giving away his kingdom in a dream, and Shaibya tearing half of her sari to pay the cremation fee; these belong to later tradition.
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