Shloka 47

Kubera’s Fivefold Nīti and Protection of the Pāṇḍavas (वैश्रवणोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

प्लक्षानुदुम्बरबटानश्वत्थान्‌ क्षीरिकांस्तथा । भल्लातकानामलकी्हरीतकबिभीतकान्‌

Transliteration

plakṣān udumbarabaṭān aśvatthān kṣīrikāṁs tathā | bhallātakān āmalakī harītaka bibhītakān |

Translation

വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു— അവിടെ പ്ലക്ഷം, ഉദുംബരം, വടം, അശ്വത്ഥം എന്നീ വൃക്ഷങ്ങൾ, കൂടാതെ ക്ഷീരിക (പാൽരസമുള്ള) വൃക്ഷവും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു; ഭല്ലാതകം, ആമലകി, ഹരീതകി, ബിഭീതകം എന്നീ വൃക്ഷങ്ങളും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു.

Word by Word

प्लक्षान्plakṣa trees

उदुम्बरudumbara (cluster fig) trees

बटान्banyan trees

अश्वत्थान्aśvattha (peepal) trees

क्षीरिकान्milk-yielding trees (latex-bearing)

तथाand also/likewise

भल्लातकान्bhallātaka trees (marking-nut)

आमलकीःāmalakī (Indian gooseberry) trees

हरीतकharītaka (chebulic myrobalan) trees

बिभीतकान्bibhītaka (baheda) trees

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

plakṣa tree

udumbara tree

baṭa (banyan) tree

aśvattha tree

kṣīrikā tree/plant

bhallātaka tree

āmalakī tree/fruit

harītaka tree/fruit

bibhītaka tree/fruit

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse reinforces how the epic situates dharma within concrete lived conditions: the exiles’ world is the forest with its resources and hardships. Attention to the natural setting underscores endurance, restraint, and adaptability—ethical steadiness amid austere surroundings.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator lists prominent forest trees and medicinal plants encountered/observed, painting the environment of the Vana Parva episode and emphasizing the wilderness context in which the characters’ actions and vows unfold.