Shloka 126

Saṃsāra-Gahana Allegory: The Brāhmaṇa in the Forest and Well (संसारगहन-आख्यान)

Devanagari script

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

Transliteration

sa tathā lambate tatra hārdhva-pādo hādhaḥ-śirāḥ |

Translation

Vidura dit : «Ainsi le voilà suspendu là—les pieds en haut et la tête en bas.» Tel un énorme fruit du jacquier attaché à son pédoncule et pendant, ainsi ce brahmane demeura pendu dans le puits, les pieds vers le ciel et la tête vers le fond.

Word by Word

सःhe

तथाthus, in that manner

लम्बतेhangs, is suspended

तत्रthere

हार्ध्वपादःhaving feet upwards (upside-down)

अधःशिराःhaving head downwards

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

a brāhmaṇa (implied by the prose gloss)

a well (implied by the prose gloss)

jackfruit (kaṭhala) fruit (as simile in the prose gloss)

fruit-stalk/stem (vṛnta) (as simile in the prose gloss)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.