Shloka 23

एकचक्रानिवासे ब्राह्मणगृहदुःखश्रवणम् | Hearing the Brāhmaṇa Household’s Distress at Ekacakrā

Devanagari script

कक्षघ्न: शिशिरघ्नश्ष महाकक्षे बिलौकस: । न दहेदिति चात्मानं यो रक्षति स जीवति,“घास-फ़ूस तथा सूखे वृक्षोंवाले जंगलको जलाने और सर्दीको नष्ट कर देनेवाली आग विशाल वनमें फैल जानेपर भी बिलमें रहनेवाले चूहे आदि जन्तुओंको नहीं जला सकती-- यों समझकर जो अपनी रक्षाका उपाय करता है, वही जीवित रहता है

Transliteration

kakṣaghnaḥ śiśiraghnaś ca mahākakṣe bilaukasaḥ | na dahed iti cātmānaṃ yo rakṣati sa jīvati ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Ein Feuer, das dürres Gras und Gestrüpp verzehrt und selbst die Kälte vertreibt, kann, wenn es sich durch einen weiten Wald ausbreitet, doch die Wesen nicht verbrennen, die in Bauen leben. Wer dies weiß—‚es wird mich nicht verbrennen‘—und Vorkehrungen zu seinem Schutz trifft, der überlebt.“

Word by Word

कक्षघ्नःdestroyer of dry grass/brushwood (kakṣa)

शिशिरघ्नःdestroyer of cold/winter

महाकक्षेin a great thicket/forest

बिलौकसःthose dwelling in holes (burrow-dwellers)

नnot

दहेत्would burn

इतिthus

चand

आत्मानम्oneself

यःwho

रक्षतिprotects

सःhe

जीवतिlives/survives

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

fire (agni)

vast forest/thicket (mahākakṣa)

burrow (bila)

burrow-dwelling creatures (e.g., mice)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Survival and well-being depend on foresight and self-protection: one should not rely on danger passing by, but should actively take appropriate measures (rakṣā) based on understanding how threats operate.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana delivers a proverbial illustration: even a sweeping forest fire cannot reach animals sheltered in burrows; likewise, a person who anticipates danger and secures a safe refuge or strategy is the one who remains alive.