Shloka 20
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
अधनाद्धि निवर्तन्ते ज्ञातय: सुहृदो द्विजा: । अपुष्पादफलादू् वृक्षाद् यथा कृष्ण पतत्त्रिण:
adhanāddhi nivartante jñātayaḥ suhṛdo dvijāḥ | apuṣpād aphalād vṛkṣād yathā kṛṣṇa patattriṇaḥ ||
اے کرشن! بے مال آدمی سے اس کے رشتہ دار، خیرخواہ اور برہمن بھی اسی طرح منہ موڑ لیتے ہیں جیسے پھول اور پھل سے خالی درخت کو چھوڑ کر پرندے اُڑ جاتے ہیں۔
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a hard ethical observation: social bonds often weaken when a person loses wealth or usefulness. Like birds abandoning a flowerless, fruitless tree, relatives and even respected social groups may withdraw when material support disappears—prompting reflection on genuine loyalty and the fragility of worldly attachments.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations and counsel, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to Kṛṣṇa, expressing the painful realities he has witnessed: poverty leads to social abandonment. He uses a vivid simile—birds leaving a barren tree—to convey how quickly support can vanish when prosperity is gone.