Shloka 19
आपद्धर्मनिर्णयः — विश्वामित्र-श्वपचसंवादः
Apaddharma Determination: Dialogue of Viśvāmitra and the Śvapaca
वने महति कम्मिंश्चिन्न्यग्रोध: सुमहानभूत् । लताजालपरिच्छिन्नो नानाद्विजगणान्वित:,किसी महान् वनमें एक विशाल बरगदका वृक्ष था, जो लतासमूहोंसे आच्छादित तथा भाँति-भाँतिके पक्षियोंसे सुशोभित था
vane mahati karmiṁścin nyagrodhaḥ sumahān abhūt | latājāla-paricchinnaḥ nānā-dvija-gaṇān vitaḥ ||
Bhishma said: In a vast forest there stood an enormous banyan tree. It was wrapped in a net of creeping vines and adorned by flocks of many kinds of birds.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse introduces a symbolic setting: a mighty banyan that shelters many birds yet is wrapped in vines. In ethical readings common to Shanti Parva, such imagery prepares for reflection on how power, support, and community can coexist with entanglement—how attachments may provide refuge but can also bind, urging discernment (viveka) in dharmic life.
Bhishma begins a descriptive episode by placing the listener in a great forest where an immense banyan stands, overgrown with creepers and alive with many birds. This scenic description functions as the opening frame for a didactic tale or illustration that follows.