Shloka 9
Saṃsāra-Gahana Allegory: The Brāhmaṇa in the Forest and Well (संसारगहन-आख्यान)
बाहुभ्यां सम्परिक्षिप्तं स्त्रिया परमघोरया । इतनेहीमें उसने देखा कि वह भयानक वन चारों ओरसे जालसे घिरा हुआ है और एक बड़ी भयानक स्त्रीने अपनी दोनों भुजाओंसे उसको आवेष्टित कर रखा है ।। पञठ्चशीर्षधरैनागि: शैलैरिव समुन्नतैः
bāhubhyāṃ samparikṣiptaṃ striyā paramaghorayā | pañcaśīrṣadharaiḥ nāgaiḥ śailair iva samunnataiḥ ||
Vidura said: “He saw that dreadful forest was hemmed in on every side as if by a net, and that a supremely terrifying woman had wrapped him tightly in her two arms. Around him rose serpents bearing five hoods, towering like lofty mountains.” The image underscores how delusion and destructive attachment can encircle a person, leaving him trapped amid fearsome consequences.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses stark imagery—entrapment by a terrifying woman and towering five-hooded serpents—to suggest how overpowering attachment and delusion can bind a person, surrounding him with dangers that feel inescapable. Ethically, it warns against being seized by forces that cloud judgment and lead to suffering.
Vidura describes a vision-like scene: a dreadful forest enclosed like a net, where a fearsome woman physically encircles someone with her arms, while five-hooded serpents loom like mountains. The description functions as an ominous tableau, intensifying the sense of peril and confinement.