Shloka 9
Vetasa-Nīti: The Reed and the Flood (वेतस-नीति)
वेतसो वेगमायातं दृष्टवा नमति नापरे | सरिद्वेगेडव्यतिक्रान्ते स्थानमासाद्य तिष्ठति
vetaso vegam āyātaṃ dṛṣṭvā namati nāpare | sarid-vege ’py atikrānte sthānam āsādya tiṣṭhati ||
Wika ni Sāgara: “Kapag nakita ng tambo ang rumaragasa kong agos, ito’y yumuyuko—samantalang ang ibang puno’y hindi. Kaya pagkalampas ng lakas ng daloy, muli itong bumabalik sa kinalalagyan at tumitindig na matatag.”
सागर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Flexibility in adversity is a form of strength: by yielding when an overwhelming force arrives, one avoids ruin and can return to one’s rightful position once the danger passes.
Sāgara illustrates a moral point with a natural image: the reed bends before the river’s surge while rigid trees resist; after the current subsides, the reed rises and stands again in its place.