Shloka 37
मधु य: केवल दृष्टवा प्रपातं नानुपश्यति । स भ्रष्टो मधुलो भेन शोचत्येवं यथा भवान्,“जो केवल ऊँचे स्थानपर लगे हुए मधुको देखकर वहाँसे गिरनेकी सम्भावनाकी ओरसे आँख बंद कर लेता है, वह उस मधुके लालचसे नीचे गिरकर इसी तरह शोक करता है, जैसे आप कर रहे हैं
madhu yaḥ kevalaṃ dṛṣṭvā prapātaṃ nānupaśyati | sa bhraṣṭo madhulobhena śocaty evaṃ yathā bhavān ||
He who, seeing only the honey high up, refuses to consider the danger of a fall—such a man, driven by greed for that honey, slips down and then grieves in the very same way that you are grieving now. The saying warns that fixation on immediate gain, while ignoring foreseeable risk and consequence, ends in inevitable sorrow.
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not be blinded by attractive gain (the 'honey') while ignoring evident risks (the 'fall'). Desire that refuses to foresee consequences leads to ruin and grief; wise judgment requires seeing both benefit and danger.
Vaiśaṃpāyana uses a proverbial metaphor to admonish a grieving listener: just as a man who covets honey on a height and ignores the peril of falling ends in sorrow, so the present grief is portrayed as the outcome of earlier shortsighted attachment or misjudgment.