Shloka 26

Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 50 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Appraisal of Bhīmasena (भीमसेनभयवर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

क्रोशतो मे न शृण्वन्ति बाला: पण्डितमानिन: । विषम न हि मन्यन्ते प्रपातं मधुदर्शिन:

Transliteration

krośato me na śṛṇvanti bālāḥ paṇḍitamāninaḥ | viṣamaṃ na hi manyante prapātaṃ madhudarśinaḥ ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra dit : «Quand bien même je crie, mes fils—de simples enfants qui se croient savants—ne m’écoutent pas. Ils ne voient que le miel tout en haut de l’arbre, sans compter la chute périlleuse qui les attend.»

Word by Word

• {'krośataḥ': 'crying out, shouting (gen./abl. of krośat, ‘one who cries’)', 'me': 'of me / my', 'na śṛṇvanti': 'do not hear, do not listen', 'bālāḥ': 'children

• immature, foolish persons', 'paṇḍita-māninaḥ': 'those who think themselves learned

• self-styled wise men', 'viṣamam': 'uneven, difficult, perilous

• dangerous', 'na hi manyante': 'indeed they do not consider/think', 'prapātam': 'a fall, plunge

• downfall', 'madhu-darśinaḥ': 'honey-seers

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons (Kauravas, implied)
• honey (madhu)
• fall/downfall (prapāta)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Tempting gain (the ‘honey’) can blind people to grave risk (the ‘fall’). True wisdom weighs consequences and heeds good counsel; self-conceit in learning leads to ruin.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, as war approaches, Dhṛtarāṣṭra laments that his sons will not listen to his warnings. He uses a vivid metaphor: they focus on the sweet prize while ignoring the catastrophic danger that pursuing it will bring.