Shloka 3
Saṃsāra-Gahana Allegory: The Brāhmaṇa in the Forest and Well (संसारगहन-आख्यान)
विदुरजीने कहा--राजन्! मैं भगवान् स्वयम्भूको नमस्कार करके संसाररूप गहन वनके उस स्वरूपका वर्णन करता हूँ, जिसका निरूपण बड़े-बड़े महर्षि करते हैं ।। वश्चिन्महति कान्तारे वर्तमानो द्विज: किल । महद् दुर्गमनुप्राप्तो वन॑ क्रव्यादसंकुलम्,कहते हैं कि किसी विशाल दुर्गम वनमें कोई ब्राह्मण यात्रा कर रहा था। वह वनके अत्यन्त दुर्गम प्रदेशमें जा पहुँचा, जो हिंसक जन्तुओंसे भरा हुआ था
vidura uvāca—rājan! ahaṁ bhagavantaṁ svayambhūṁ namaskṛtya saṁsāra-rūpaṁ gahanaṁ vanaṁ yathā-rūpaṁ varṇayiṣyāmi, yasya nirūpaṇaṁ mahā-maharṣayaḥ kurvanti. vaścin mahati kāntāre vartamāno dvijaḥ kila; mahad durgam anuprāpto vanaṁ kravyādasaṅkulam.
Vidura said: O King, having bowed to the Blessed Self-born Lord, I shall describe the dense forest that is this world—its true nature as the great seers expound it. It is said that a brahmin, traveling through a vast wilderness, reached a region exceedingly hard to traverse, a forest crowded with flesh-eating beasts. (Thus begins the allegory of saṁsāra: the perilous journey of the embodied being amid fear, violence, and delusion.)
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura frames worldly life (saṁsāra) as a perilous, dense forest filled with dangers, introducing an ethical-spiritual allegory meant to awaken detachment, discernment, and a search for safe passage through dharma and right understanding.
Vidura begins an illustrative story: after saluting the Self-born Lord, he describes a brahmin traveler who enters a vast, difficult wilderness crowded with carnivorous beasts—setting the stage for an allegorical explanation of human life’s hazards and moral choices.