Shloka 16
Bhṛgu–Bharadvāja-saṃvāda: Vānaprastha-parivrājaka-ācāra, Abhaya-dharma, and Lokānāṃ Vibhāga (Śānti-parva 185)
वक्त्रेणोत्पलनालेन यथोर्ध्व जलमाददेत् । तथा पवनसंयुक्त: पादैः: पिबति पादप:
vaktreṇotpalanālena yathordhvaṁ jalam ādadet | tathā pavanasaṁyuktaḥ pādaiḥ pibati pādapaḥ ||
ભરદ્વાજે કહ્યું— જેમ માણસ કમળની નાળને મોઢે લગાવી તેના દ્વારા પાણી ઉપર ખેંચે છે, તેમ પવનના સહયોગથી યુક્ત વૃક્ષ પોતાની મૂળોથી પાણી ઉપર તરફ પીવે અને ખેંચે છે।
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches through analogy that hidden mechanisms and supporting conditions enable visible outcomes: as a lotus-stalk can serve as a conduit to draw water upward, a tree draws water upward through its roots with the aid of wind/air. It encourages attentive reasoning about causes that are not immediately seen.
Bharadvāja is explaining a natural process in a didactic discussion: how a tree ‘drinks’ and lifts water upward. He illustrates it with a simple, observable example—sucking water through a lotus-stalk—so the listener can grasp the principle.