Shloka 13
Adhyāya 6: Vidura’s Saṃsāra-Upamā
The Allegory of the Well, Time, and Desire
यास्तु ता बहुशो धारा: स्रवन्ति मधुनिस्रवम् । तांस्तु कामरसान् विद्याद् यत्र मज्जन्ति मानवा:,और जो-जो वहाँ मधुमक्खियाँ कही गयी हैं, वे सब कामनाएँ हैं। जो बहुत-सी धाराएँ मधुके झरने झरती रहती हैं, उन्हें कामरस जानना चाहिये, जहाँ सभी मानव डूब जाते हैं
yāstu tā bahuśo dhārāḥ sravanti madhunisravam | tāṁstu kāmarasān vidyād yatra majjanti mānavāḥ ||
यास्तु ता बहुशो धाराः स्रवन्ति मधुनिस्रवम्। तांस्तु कामरसान् विद्याद् यत्र मज्जन्ति मानवाः॥
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that pleasures of desire are like sweet honey-streams: attractive and constantly flowing, yet they cause people to become ‘submerged’—overpowered by craving, losing discernment and ethical steadiness.
In Strī Parva’s reflective aftermath of the war, Vidura speaks in a didactic mode, using a metaphor of honey-like flows to interpret human vulnerability to kāma (desire) and its power to overwhelm people.