Mahabharata 3.2.38 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 2, Shloka 38
ब्राह्मणानुयात्रा—शौनकोपदेशः
Brāhmaṇas Follow into Exile and Śaunaka’s Instruction
यथैध: स्वसमुत्थेन वह्लिना नाशमृच्छति । तथाकृतात्मा लोभेन सहजेन विनश्यति
yathaidhāḥ svasamutthena vahninā nāśam ṛcchati | tathākṛtātmā lobhena sahajena vinaśyati ||
Assim como o fogo que nasce da própria madeira consome essa mesma madeira até destruí-la, assim também quem não dominou a si mesmo é arruinado pela cobiça inata—cobiça nascida junto com o corpo—e provoca a própria queda.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unchecked, inborn greed functions like a self-generated fire: it consumes the very person who harbors it. The verse urges self-mastery (ātma-niyama) as a safeguard against self-destruction.
Vaiśampāyana delivers a moral reflection using a vivid simile—wood destroyed by its own fire—to explain how an undisciplined person is ruined by natural greed, reinforcing the ethical lesson within the ongoing discourse of the Vana Parva.
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