Shloka 10
Śaraṇāgatapālana—Prastāvanā
Protection of the Refuge-Seeker: Opening of the Kapota Narrative
छिन्नमूले त्वधिष्ठाने सर्वेषां जीवनं हतम् | कथं हि शाखास्तिष्ठेयुश्छिन्नमूले वनस्पती,“यदि मूल आधार नष्ट हो जाय तो उसके आश्रयसे जीवननिर्वाह करनेवाले सभी शत्रुओंका जीवन नष्ट हो जाता है। यदि वृक्षकी जड़ काट दी जाय तो उसकी शाखाएँ कैसे रह सकती हैं?
chinnamūle tv adhiṣṭhāne sarveṣāṁ jīvanaṁ hatam | kathaṁ hi śākhās tiṣṭheyuś chinnamūle vanaspatiḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “When the very foundation is cut at the root, the life of all who depend upon it is destroyed. For how could the branches possibly remain when the root of a tree has been severed?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that outcomes are sustained by their underlying causes: if the root support is removed, dependent structures collapse. Ethically and politically, one should address the fundamental source of harm or disorder rather than only its visible offshoots.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance. Here he uses the image of a tree to explain that destroying the base (the root/foundation) ends the vitality of everything that relies on it, emphasizing strategic and moral focus on primary causes.