Shloka 226
यस्मिंस्ते कुण्डले बद्धे तदा द्विजवरेण वै । उस समय उनकी दृष्टि बेलोंपर ही लगी हुई थी (वे कहाँ गिरते हैं, इसकी ओर उनका ध्यान नहीं था)। प्रभो! उनके तोड़े हुए प्रायः सभी बेल उस मृगछालापर ही, जिसमें उन विप्रवरने वे दोनों कुण्डल बाँध रखे थे, गिरे
yasmiṁs te kuṇḍale baddhe tadā dvijavareṇa vai |
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “At that time, the brahmin of excellent stature had fastened those two earrings upon a deerskin. Their gaze was fixed only on the creepers; they were not attentive to where the cut vines were falling. Thus, almost all the vines they severed fell upon that very deerskin on which the two earrings had been tied.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how fixation on a single task can lead to negligence about consequences; even in simple actions, heedfulness (apramāda) matters, especially when valuable objects are involved.
An eminent brahmin has tied two earrings onto a deerskin. While cutting creepers, the person(s) involved keep watching only the vines, not where they fall, and the cut vines mostly land on the same deerskin where the earrings are secured.