Shloka 17
Hiḍimba’s Approach and Hiḍimbā’s Warning to Bhīmasena (हिडिम्बागमनम् / हिडिम्बा-भयवचनम्)
छिन्नमूले हाधिष्ठाने सर्वे तज्जीविनो हता: । कथं नु शाखास्तिष्ठेरंश्छिन्नमूले वनस्पतौ,“यदि मूल आधार नष्ट हो जाय तो उसके आश्रयसे जीवन धारण करनेवाले सभी शत्रु स्वतः नष्ट हो जाते हैं। यदि वृक्षकी जड़ काट दी जाय तो उसकी शाखाएँ कैसे रह सकती हैं?
chinnamūle hādhisṭhāne sarve tajjīvino hatāḥ | kathaṃ nu śākhās tiṣṭheran chinnamūle vanaspatau ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Alas—when the root and the very base are cut away, all who live depending upon it are destroyed. How, indeed, could the branches remain standing when the root of a tree has been severed?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a principle of causality and strategy: when the fundamental support (the ‘root’) is removed, dependent structures and allies collapse naturally; therefore one should address the primary cause rather than only its outward manifestations.
Vaiśaṃpāyana uses a vivid tree-metaphor to explain that destroying the central foundation leads to the downfall of all who rely on it, framing the point as an ethical-strategic observation within the unfolding account.