Shloka 16

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

Devanagari script

तस्य चापि प्रशाखासु वृक्षशाखावलम्बिन: । नानारूपा मधुकरा घोररूपा भयावहा:

Transliteration

tasya cāpi praśākhāsu vṛkṣaśākhāvalambinaḥ | nānārūpā madhukarā ghorarūpā bhayāvahāḥ ||

Translation

Et sur les rameaux de cet arbre encore, accrochées à ses branches, se trouvent des abeilles de toutes sortes, terribles d’aspect et porteuses d’effroi. Dans l’imagerie morale de Vidura, ces créatures grouillantes et inquiétantes figurent les angoisses et les périls qui s’amassent autour d’une vie enlacée par les attachements du monde et les actes fautifs, rendant la voie de l’égaré toujours plus dangereuse.

Word by Word

तस्यof that (tree/it)

चand

अपिalso/even

प्रशाखासुon the branches/sub-branches

वृक्षशाखावलम्बिनःhanging from the tree-branches

नानारूपाःof many forms/variegated

मधुकराःbees

घोररूपाःof terrible appearance

भयावहाःbringing fear/terrifying

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

tree (vṛkṣa)

branches (śākhā, praśākhā)

bees (madhukara)

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?

Vidura continues an ethical allegory: when one is caught in the ‘tree’ of worldly entanglement, additional dangers accumulate around it. The frightening ‘bees’ symbolize the many anxieties, threats, and painful consequences that cling to a life driven by error and attachment, intensifying fear and suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vidura is speaking and describing an image: on the subsidiary branches of a tree, bees of many kinds hang and swarm, appearing dreadful and fear-inducing. The verse functions as part of a larger figurative description meant to warn about perilous conditions surrounding a misguided course of life.