Shloka 86
तालवत कुरुते मूलं बाल: शत्रुरुपेक्षित: । गहने<ग्निरिवोत्सृष्ट: क्षिप्रं संजायते महान्,छोटे शत्रुकी भी उपेक्षा कर दी जाय, तो वह ताड़के वृक्षकी भाँति जड़ जमा लेता है और घने वनमें छोड़ी हुई आगकी भाँति शीघ्र ही महान् विनाशकारी बन जाता है
tālavata kurute mūlaṃ bālaḥ śatrur upekṣitaḥ | gahane 'gnir ivotsṛṣṭaḥ kṣipraṃ saṃjāyate mahān ||
Kāṇika said: “A neglected enemy, though small at first, takes root like a palmyra tree. Like a fire let loose in a dense forest, he quickly grows into a great and devastating force.”
कणिक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not disregard a minor threat: if a small enemy is ignored, he becomes firmly established and rapidly turns into a major danger—like a palmyra taking deep root or a fire spreading through a forest.
Kāṇika is giving counsel in the idiom of nīti (practical statecraft), warning that political and personal security requires timely attention to emerging hostility; negligence allows an adversary to grow beyond control.