Shloka 16

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

Devanagari script

तस्य चापि प्रशाखासु वृक्षशाखावलम्बिन: । नानारूपा मधुकरा घोररूपा भयावहा:

Transliteration

tasya cāpi praśākhāsu vṛkṣaśākhāvalambinaḥ | nānārūpā madhukarā ghorarūpā bhayāvahāḥ ||

Translation

E também nos ramos secundários daquela árvore, agarradas aos seus galhos, há abelhas de muitas espécies—terríveis de aspecto e portadoras de medo. Na imagem moral de Vidura, essas criaturas em enxame, assustadoras, sugerem as ansiedades e os perigos que se ajuntam em torno de uma vida enredada em apegos mundanos e em ações erradas, tornando o caminho do iludido cada vez mais perigoso.

Word by Word

तस्यof that (tree/it)

चand

अपिalso/even

प्रशाखासुon the branches/sub-branches

वृक्षशाखावलम्बिनःhanging from the tree-branches

नानारूपाःof many forms/variegated

मधुकराःbees

घोररूपाःof terrible appearance

भयावहाःbringing fear/terrifying

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

tree (vṛkṣa)

branches (śākhā, praśākhā)

bees (madhukara)

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 continues an ethical allegory: when one is caught in the ‘tree’ of worldly entanglement, additional dangers accumulate around it. The frightening ‘bees’ symbolize the many anxieties, threats, and painful consequences that cling to a life driven by error and attachment, intensifying fear and suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vidura is speaking and describing an image: on the subsidiary branches of a tree, bees of many kinds hang and swarm, appearing dreadful and fear-inducing. The verse functions as part of a larger figurative description meant to warn about perilous conditions surrounding a misguided course of life.