Shloka 6

Jājali’s Austerities and the Summons to Tulādhāra (जाजलि–तुलाधार-इतिहासः)

Devanagari script

संरोहत्यकृतप्रज्ञ: सदा येन हि पादपम्‌ | स तमेव ततो हन्ति विषग्रन्थिरिवातुरम्‌

Transliteration

saṁrohati akṛtaprajñaḥ sadā yena hi pādapam | sa tam eva tato hanti viṣagranthir ivāturam ||

Translation

قال فياسا: إن الرجل الذي لم تكتمل بصيرته يُنمّي الشجرة نفسها التي بها يعيش ويزدهر دائمًا؛ ثم لا يلبث أن يضرب هو بعينه تلك العِماد—كَوَرَمٍ سامٍّ ينشأ في الجسد ثم يهلك الجسد الذي نشأ فيه. والبيت يحذّر من أن الحمق والجحود يقلبان المرء على سندِه، حتى يبدو إيذاء النفس كأنه فعلٌ موجَّه إلى «آخر».

Word by Word

संरोहतिgrows up / thrives

अकृतप्रज्ञःone whose understanding is not matured (a fool)

सदाalways

येनby whom / by which

हिindeed / for

पादपम्a tree

सःhe

तम्him

एवjust / indeed

ततःthen / thereafter

हन्तिkills / destroys

विषग्रन्थिःa poisonous knot/creeper (poison-bearing plant)

इवlike / as

आतुरम्the afflicted/sick (person)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

pādapa (tree)

viṣagranthi (poisonous swelling)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Lack of discernment (prajñā) leads a person to harm the very support that sustains him; ingratitude and shortsightedness become self-destructive, like a toxic growth that ends up killing its own host.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Vyāsa’s didactic speech, he uses a compact simile: a foolish person nurtures a tree (a sustaining support) and later destroys it; this is compared to a poisonous swelling that, having arisen in the body, ultimately destroys the afflicted host.