Shloka 1
अन्तर्वन-विद्यारण्योपमा
The Allegory of the Inner Forest of Knowledge
/ है अर ० छा | अ-क्राछ सप्तविशो< ध्याय: अध्यात्मविषयक महान् वनका वर्णन ब्राह्मण उवाच संकल्पदंशमशकं शोकहर्षहिमातपम् । मोहान्धकारतिमिरं लोभव्याधिसरीसूपम्
brāhmaṇa uvāca | saṅkalpa-daṁśa-maśakaṁ śoka-harṣa-himātapam | mohāndhakāra-timiraṁ lobha-vyādhi-sarīsṛpam ||
The Brahmin said: “Beloved, there is a realm where swarms of mosquitoes and gadflies take the form of restless intentions; where the alternating pains of grief and delight are like cold and heat; where the darkness of delusion spreads like night; and where greed and disease move about like serpents. Having crossed that hard-to-traverse path of worldly life—where one must go alone and where desire and anger lie encamped as enemies—I have now entered the great forest of Brahman, the inner domain of spiritual reality.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly existence (saṁsāra) is portrayed as a perilous path filled with mental agitation (saṅkalpa), emotional extremes (śoka/harṣa), delusion (moha), and destructive tendencies like greed and illness. The implied ethical-spiritual counsel is to transcend these inner afflictions through detachment and move toward Brahman—stable, liberating self-knowledge.
A Brahmin addresses a beloved listener and uses vivid metaphors to describe the dangers of saṁsāra. He declares that he has crossed that difficult worldly route—where one must proceed alone and face enemies like desire and anger—and has entered the ‘great forest of Brahman,’ indicating a turn toward renunciation and spiritual realization.