Shloka 18

Saṃsāra-Gahana Allegory: The Brāhmaṇa in the Forest and Well (संसारगहन-आख्यान)

Devanagari script

तेषां मधूनां बहुधा धारा प्रस्रवते तदा

Transliteration

teṣāṃ madhūnāṃ bahudhā dhārā prasravate tadā

Translation

ແລ້ວໃນເວລານັ້ນ ຈາກຮັງນ້ຳເຜິ້ງເຫຼົ່ານັ້ນ ກະແສນ້ຳເຜິ້ງໄຫຼອອກໄປຫຼາຍທິດທາງ. ໃນຄໍາກ່າວຂອງວິດູຣະ ພາບນີ້ຍ້ຳວ່າ ຜົນຕາມມາ—ຈະເປັນຜົນຂອງຄຸນງາມຄວາມດີ ຫຼືຂອງການກະທຳຜິດ—ບໍ່ຢູ່ຈຳກັດໃນທີ່ໃດທີ່ໜຶ່ງ; ເມື່ອເງື່ອນໄຂພ້ອມ ຜົນຍ່ອມໄຫຼອອກຢ່າງຫຼາຍ ແລະຫຼີກບໍ່ພົ້ນ.

Word by Word

तेषाम्of those

मधूनाम्of the honeys / sweet juices

बहुधाin many ways / abundantly

धाराa stream / flow

प्रस्रवतेflows forth / trickles out

तदाthen

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

honey (madhu)

streams/flow (dhārā)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura uses a natural image—honey flowing in many streams—to suggest that outcomes of causes (especially moral causes) manifest abundantly and spread beyond their point of origin; one should therefore act with foresight and restraint, knowing results can overflow and affect many.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Stree Parva’s lamentation-filled aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war, Vidura speaks in a reflective, instructive mode; this line forms part of a simile illustrating how events and their consequences unfold and spread once set in motion.