Shloka 20

Devanagari script

अधनाद्धि निवर्तन्ते ज्ञातय: सुहृदो द्विजा: । अपुष्पादफलादू्‌ वृक्षाद्‌ यथा कृष्ण पतत्त्रिण:,श्रीकृष्ण! धनहीन पुरुषसे उसके भाई-बन्धु, सुहृद्‌ और ब्राह्मणलोग भी उसी प्रकार मुँह मोड़ लेते हैं, जैसे पक्षी पुष्प और फलसे हीन वृक्षको छोड़कर उड़ जाते हैं

Transliteration

adhanāddhi nivartante jñātayaḥ suhṛdo dvijāḥ | apuṣpād aphalād vṛkṣād yathā kṛṣṇa patattriṇaḥ ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Indeed, when a man is without wealth, even his kinsmen, well-wishers, and Brahmins turn away from him—just as birds fly off from a tree that bears neither flowers nor fruit, O Kṛṣṇa.”

Word by Word

अधनात्from (being) without wealth; due to poverty

हिindeed

निवर्तन्तेturn back; withdraw; turn away

ज्ञातयःkinsmen; relatives

सुहृदःfriends; well-wishers

द्विजाःbrahmins (twice-born)

अपुष्पात्from (a tree) without flowers

अफलात्from (a tree) without fruit

वृक्षात्from a tree

यथाjust as

कृष्णO Krishna

पतत्त्रिणःbirds

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Kṛṣṇa

jñātayaḥ (kinsmen)

suhṛdaḥ (friends/well-wishers)

dvijāḥ (Brahmins)

vṛkṣa (tree)

patattriṇaḥ (birds)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a hard ethical observation: social bonds often weaken when a person loses wealth or usefulness. Like birds abandoning a flowerless, fruitless tree, relatives and even respected social groups may withdraw when material support disappears—prompting reflection on genuine loyalty and the fragility of worldly attachments.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations and counsel, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to Kṛṣṇa, expressing the painful realities he has witnessed: poverty leads to social abandonment. He uses a vivid simile—birds leaving a barren tree—to convey how quickly support can vanish when prosperity is gone.