He is depicted as being arrogant because of his brahmin status, but at the same time quite compassionate in his help of others, and Sathaye demonstrates this contrast with great acuity in his analysis of the role Visvamitra plays in the myth of
Hariscandra in the Markandeya Purana and especially in the Devibhagavatapurana.
To summarize the story line, Sunahsepa is a boy who is sold by his father Ajigarta in order to serve as a substitute for Rohita, son of
Hariscandra, who is to be offered as a sacrifice to the gods.
One should here also add the story of
Hariscandra as known from the Markandeya (MarkandeyaP 7-9) and the Devibhagavata Purana (DevibhagavataP 6.12-13 and 7.17-27) and its innumerable vernacular versions, comparable in popularity, as Gombrich remarks (VJ tr.
The Candakausika is an adaptation of the Markandeya Purana version of the
Hariscandra legend, featuring a number of innovations that serve to produce all eight classical rasas.
The Nationalization of Hindu Traditions: Bharatendu
Hariscandra and Nineteenth-Century Banaras.
A manuscript in the Madras Triennial Catalogue (2: 1716-17) shows that it contained twenty cantos and was a vilomakavya of the Nala and
Hariscandra stories.
In the telling of the tale of
Hariscandra, Rohita, and Sunahsepa in the Rajasuya ceremony section of the Sankhayanasrautasutra, the tense forms are used in absolute conformity with the system Panini describes, and the same tale told in the Aitareyabrahmana shows near perfect conformity.
Der jedoch, der eigentlich geopfert werden solite, war Rohita, der Sohn des Konigs
Hariscandra. Dem
Hariscandra war em Sohn, eben Rohita, geschenkt worden, weil er gelobt hatte, diesen Sohn dem Varuna zu opfem.
She argues convincingly that these were as deeply impacted by missionary and Orie ntalist perspectives as the so-called reform movements, by analyzing the complex works of the influential
Hariscandra of Banaras.
Nevertheless, in 1892 his son,
Hariscandra Kabiratna, urged Girisacandra, then seventy years old, to write down the story of his life.
The source for the information is the biography of Giri-sacandra written by his son,
Hariscandra Kabiratna.
(89.) Bharatendu
Hariscandra reportedly stated that every Baisvari considered himself to be a Bhima or Arjuna (Sarma, Nirala, 1: 10).