Shloka 6

Jājali’s Austerities and the Summons to Tulādhāra (जाजलि–तुलाधार-इतिहासः)

Devanagari script

संरोहत्यकृतप्रज्ञ: सदा येन हि पादपम्‌ | स तमेव ततो हन्ति विषग्रन्थिरिवातुरम्‌

Transliteration

saṁrohati akṛtaprajñaḥ sadā yena hi pādapam | sa tam eva tato hanti viṣagranthir ivāturam ||

Translation

வியாசர் கூறினார்—முழுமையடையாத அறிவுடையவன், எத்தகைய மரத்தால் எப்போதும் வாழ்ந்து வளர்கிறானோ, பின்னர் அதையே தானே தாக்கி அழிக்கிறான்; உடலுக்குள் எழும் விஷக் கட்டி இறுதியில் அதே உடலை அழிப்பதுபோல்.

Word by Word

संरोहतिgrows up / thrives

अकृतप्रज्ञःone whose understanding is not matured (a fool)

सदाalways

येनby whom / by which

हिindeed / for

पादपम्a tree

सःhe

तम्him

एवjust / indeed

ततःthen / thereafter

हन्तिkills / destroys

विषग्रन्थिःa poisonous knot/creeper (poison-bearing plant)

इवlike / as

आतुरम्the afflicted/sick (person)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

pādapa (tree)

viṣagranthi (poisonous swelling)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Lack of discernment (prajñā) leads a person to harm the very support that sustains him; ingratitude and shortsightedness become self-destructive, like a toxic growth that ends up killing its own host.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Vyāsa’s didactic speech, he uses a compact simile: a foolish person nurtures a tree (a sustaining support) and later destroys it; this is compared to a poisonous swelling that, having arisen in the body, ultimately destroys the afflicted host.