Shloka 17

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

Devanagari script

भूयो भूय: समीहन्ते मधूनि भरतर्षभ

Transliteration

bhūyo bhūyaḥ samīhante madhūni bharatarṣabha

Translation

भूयो भूयः समीहन्ते मधूनि भरतर्षभ॥

Word by Word

• भूयः: again / more
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: भूयस्
• Form: Avyaya (comparative adverb: 'again, more')

• भूयः: again and again / repeatedly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: भूयस्
• Form: Avyaya (repetition for emphasis)

• समीहन्ते: they strive for / they seek
• समीहन्ते: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-ईह्
• Form: Present tense (लट्), 3rd person, plural, Ātmanepada

• मधूनि: sweet things / honey (pl.)
• मधूनि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मधु
• Form: Neuter, accusative, plural

• भरतर्षभ: O bull of the Bharatas (best of the Bharata race)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरतर्षभ
• Form: Masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• bharatarṣabha (addressed Bharata/Kuru elder, i.e., Dhṛtarāṣṭra in context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vidura highlights the recurring human tendency to chase pleasurable ‘sweet’ experiences, implying that attachment to such delights persists even amid suffering; ethical clarity requires restraint and discernment rather than compulsive pursuit of pleasure.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the aftermath of the war, Vidura counsels the Kuru elder addressed as ‘bharatarṣabha,’ reflecting on human nature—how people repeatedly seek pleasure—within a setting of grief and moral reckoning.