Shloka 23

एकचक्रानिवासे ब्राह्मणगृहदुःखश्रवणम् | Hearing the Brāhmaṇa Household’s Distress at Ekacakrā

Devanagari script

कक्षघ्न: शिशिरघ्नश्ष महाकक्षे बिलौकस: । न दहेदिति चात्मानं यो रक्षति स जीवति,“घास-फ़ूस तथा सूखे वृक्षोंवाले जंगलको जलाने और सर्दीको नष्ट कर देनेवाली आग विशाल वनमें फैल जानेपर भी बिलमें रहनेवाले चूहे आदि जन्तुओंको नहीं जला सकती-- यों समझकर जो अपनी रक्षाका उपाय करता है, वही जीवित रहता है

Transliteration

kakṣaghnaḥ śiśiraghnaś ca mahākakṣe bilaukasaḥ | na dahed iti cātmānaṃ yo rakṣati sa jīvati ||

Translation

ไวศัมปายนะกล่าวว่า “ไฟซึ่งเผาผลาญหญ้าแห้งพงพุ่มและป่าไม้แห้ง ทั้งยังขจัดความหนาวได้ ครั้นลามไปทั่วมหาพนาก็มิอาจเผาสัตว์ที่อาศัยอยู่ในโพรงได้ ผู้ใดรู้ดังนี้ว่า ‘มันเผาเราไม่ได้’ แล้วจัดการป้องกันตน ผู้นั้นแลย่อมรอดชีวิต”

Word by Word

कक्षघ्नःdestroyer of dry grass/brushwood (kakṣa)

शिशिरघ्नःdestroyer of cold/winter

महाकक्षेin a great thicket/forest

बिलौकसःthose dwelling in holes (burrow-dwellers)

नnot

दहेत्would burn

इतिthus

चand

आत्मानम्oneself

यःwho

रक्षतिprotects

सःhe

जीवतिlives/survives

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

fire (agni)

vast forest/thicket (mahākakṣa)

burrow (bila)

burrow-dwelling creatures (e.g., mice)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Survival and well-being depend on foresight and self-protection: one should not rely on danger passing by, but should actively take appropriate measures (rakṣā) based on understanding how threats operate.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana delivers a proverbial illustration: even a sweeping forest fire cannot reach animals sheltered in burrows; likewise, a person who anticipates danger and secures a safe refuge or strategy is the one who remains alive.