Shloka 8

Vetasa-Nīti: The Reed and the Flood (वेतस-नीति)

Devanagari script

गजड़ोवाच तिष्ठन्त्येते यथास्थानं नगा होकनिकेतना: । ते त्यजन्ति ततः स्थान प्रातिलोम्यान्न वेतस:

Transliteration

sāgara uvāca | tiṣṭhanty ete yathāsthānaṃ nagāḥ sthāniketanāḥ | te tyajanti tataḥ sthānaṃ prātilomyān na vetasāḥ ||

Translation

Sāgara said: “These trees stand rigid in their own places, as though their dwelling were fixed there. Because they oppose—refusing to yield—they are destroyed and forced to abandon their place. But the cane (vetaśa) is not like that.”

Word by Word

• {'sāgara uvāca': '‘Sāgara said’ (speaker tag)', 'tiṣṭhanti': 'they stand, remain', 'ete': 'these', 'yathāsthānam': 'in their respective places

• as situated', 'nagāḥ': 'trees (lit. ‘immovable ones’)', 'sthāniketanāḥ': 'having a fixed abode

• rooted in one place', 'tyajanti': 'they abandon, give up', 'tataḥ': 'thereupon

• as a result', 'sthānam': 'place, position', 'prātilomyāt': 'from contrariness

• from acting against the proper course/flow', 'na': 'not', 'vetaśāḥ (vetaśaḥ)': 'cane, reed

Speaker

सागर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• सागर (Sāgara)
• नगाः (trees)
• वेतस/वेतश (cane/reed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Rigidity and contrariness toward an overwhelming force (symbolized by a current/flow) lead to ruin, whereas pliancy and timely yielding (symbolized by the reed) preserves one’s place and well-being—an ethical counsel toward humility and adaptability within dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sāgara uses a nature-based comparison: trees that stand stiffly against the current are uprooted and lose their place, while the reed survives because it bends. The verse functions as a didactic illustration within the Shānti Parva’s instruction-oriented discourse.