Shloka 126
Saṃsāra-Gahana Allegory: The Brāhmaṇa in the Forest and Well (संसारगहन-आख्यान)
स तथा लम्बते तत्र हार्ध्वपादो हाध:शिरा: । जैसे कटहलका विशाल फल वृन्तमें बँधा हुआ लटकता रहता है, उसी प्रकार वह ब्राह्मण ऊपरको पैर और नीचेको सिर किये उस कुएँमें लटक गया
sa tathā lambate tatra hārdhva-pādo hādhaḥ-śirāḥ |
Vidura says: “Thus he hangs there—his feet upward and his head downward.” Like a great jackfruit bound to its stalk and dangling, so that brahmin hung in the well, feet above and head below.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the stark image of being suspended upside down to suggest moral inversion and helplessness: when one departs from dharma or sound judgment, one’s condition becomes unstable and degrading, and suffering follows as an inevitable consequence.
Vidura describes a man hanging in a precarious position—feet above, head below—evoking the (commentarial/prose) comparison of a large jackfruit dangling from its stalk, emphasizing danger, loss of control, and the gravity of the situation being narrated.