Shloka 41

Devanagari script

भरद्वाज उवाच उत्पन्नस्य रुरो: शंंगं वर्धमानस्य वर्धते । प्रार्थना पुरुषस्येव तस्य मात्रा न विद्यते

Transliteration

bharadvāja uvāca utpannasya ruroḥ śṛṅgaṃ vardhamānasya vardhate | prārthanā puruṣasyeva tasya mātrā na vidyate ||

Translation

ภรทวาชะกล่าวว่า “ดุจเขาของอสรพิษ ‘รุรุ’ เมื่อบังเกิดแล้ว ยิ่งเติบโตยิ่งเพิ่มพูน ฉันใด คำวิงวอน—คือความใคร่ปรารถนา—ของมนุษย์ก็ขยายตัวฉันนั้น หาได้มีประมาณหรือขอบเขตอันแน่นอนไม่”

Word by Word

भरद्वाजःBharadvaja

उवाचsaid

उत्पन्नस्यof (one) born / arisen

रुरोःof Ruru

शृङ्गम्horn

वर्धमानस्यof (one) growing

वर्धतेgrows / increases

प्रार्थनाrequest, entreaty

पुरुषस्यof a man / person

इवlike, as if

तस्यof that / his

मात्राmeasure, limit

नnot

विद्यतेis found / exists

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bharadvāja

Ruru

śṛṅga (horn)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Human asking and craving tend to be unbounded: like a growing horn, desire expands unless restrained. The ethical implication is the need for moderation, contentment, and disciplined speech—knowing when to stop requesting or demanding.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bharadvāja delivers a didactic observation using a vivid natural metaphor (Ruru’s horn) to illustrate a moral point about human behavior: petitions and wants can keep increasing without a natural limit.