Shloka 4
सागर उवाच समूलशाखान् पश्यामि निहतान् कायिनो द्रुमान् युष्माभिरिह पूर्णाभिन्नद्यस्तत्र न वेतसम्,समुद्रने कहा--नदियो! मैं देखता हूँ कि जब बाढ़ आनेके कारण तुमलोग लबालब भर जाती हो, तब विशालकाय वृक्षोंको जड़-मूल और शाखाओंसहित उखाड़कर अपने प्रवाहमें बहा लाती हो; परंतु उनमें बेंतका कोई पेड़ नहीं दिखायी देता
sāgara uvāca | samūlaśākhān paśyāmi nihatān kāyino drumān | yuṣmābhir iha pūrṇābhinnādyas tatra na vetasam ||
Sāgara disse: “Ó rios, vejo árvores enormes, arrancadas com raízes e ramos, abatidas e trazidas até aqui por vós quando, inchados até transbordar, rompeis as margens e correis impetuosos. Contudo, entre tudo o que carregais, não vejo um único vetasa (caniço/cana).”
सागर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a natural image to suggest an ethical lesson: rigid, massive things are uprooted and destroyed by force, while the flexible vetasa (reed/cane) survives and therefore is not seen among the wreckage. It points toward adaptability, humility, and non-rigidity as protective virtues.
The Ocean (Sāgara), speaking to the rivers, observes that when they flood and break their banks they carry away uprooted great trees, yet no vetasa is among them. This remark sets up a moral comparison between what gets broken by turbulent force and what endures by bending.