Shloka 18
Saṃsāra-Gahana Allegory: The Brāhmaṇa in the Forest and Well (संसारगहन-आख्यान)
तेषां मधूनां बहुधा धारा प्रस्रवते तदा
teṣāṃ madhūnāṃ bahudhā dhārā prasravate tadā
Then, from those honeycombs, streams of honey begin to flow in many directions. In Vidura’s speech, the image underscores how consequences—whether of virtue or wrongdoing—do not remain contained: once the conditions are set, results pour forth abundantly and inevitably.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura uses a natural image—honey flowing in many streams—to suggest that outcomes of causes (especially moral causes) manifest abundantly and spread beyond their point of origin; one should therefore act with foresight and restraint, knowing results can overflow and affect many.
In the Stree Parva’s lamentation-filled aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war, Vidura speaks in a reflective, instructive mode; this line forms part of a simile illustrating how events and their consequences unfold and spread once set in motion.