Shloka 36

उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय 33: धृतराष्ट्र-विदुर संवादः (विदुरनीतिः)

Devanagari script

यदतप्तं प्रणमति न तत्‌ संतापयन्त्यपि । यच्च स्वयं नतं दारु न तत्‌ संनमयन्त्यपि,जो धातु बिना गरम किये मुड़ जाते हैं, उन्हें आगमें नहीं तपाते। जो काठ स्वयं झुका होता है, उसे कोई झुकानेका प्रयत्न नहीं करता

Transliteration

yad ataptaṁ praṇamati na tat santāpayanty api | yac ca svayaṁ nataṁ dāru na tat saṁnamayanty api ||

Translation

Vidura observes that what bends without being heated is not subjected to further heating; and wood that is already bent of its own accord is not forced to bend again. Ethically, he implies that a person who yields willingly to good counsel needs no harsh pressure—severity is meant for the stubborn, not for the already compliant.

Word by Word

यत्that which

अतप्तम्unheated, not made hot

प्रणमतिbends, yields

नnot

तत्that

संतापयन्तिthey heat, make hot, torment

अपिeven, also

यत्that which

चand

स्वयम्of itself, by itself

नतम्bent, bowed

दारुwood, timber

नnot

तत्that

संनमयन्तिthey bend (it), make (it) bow

अपिeven, also

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

fire (implied by heating)

wood (dāru)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes