Shloka 86

Devanagari script

तालवत कुरुते मूलं बाल: शत्रुरुपेक्षित: । गहने<ग्निरिवोत्सृष्ट: क्षिप्रं संजायते महान्‌,छोटे शत्रुकी भी उपेक्षा कर दी जाय, तो वह ताड़के वृक्षकी भाँति जड़ जमा लेता है और घने वनमें छोड़ी हुई आगकी भाँति शीघ्र ही महान्‌ विनाशकारी बन जाता है

Transliteration

tālavata kurute mūlaṃ bālaḥ śatrur upekṣitaḥ | gahane 'gnir ivotsṛṣṭaḥ kṣipraṃ saṃjāyate mahān ||

Translation

迦尼迦说道：“被忽视的敌人，纵初时微小，也会如多罗树般扎根。又如烈火纵入密林，顷刻间便壮大为巨力，摧毁一切。”

Word by Word

तालवत्like a palmyra (tree)

कुरुतेmakes, forms

मूलम्root, foundation

बालःa child; (here) small/young (enemy)

शत्रुःenemy

उपेक्षितःneglected, disregarded

गहनेin a thicket/dense (forest)

अग्निःfire

इवlike, as

उत्सृष्टःreleased, let loose

क्षिप्रम्quickly

संजायतेarises, becomes

महान्great, mighty

Speaker

कणिक उवाच

Characters & Entities

क

कणिक (Kāṇika)

श

शत्रु (enemy)

त

ताल (palmyra tree)

अ

अग्नि (fire)

ग

गहन वन (dense forest)

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?

Do not disregard a minor threat: if a small enemy is ignored, he becomes firmly established and rapidly turns into a major danger—like a palmyra taking deep root or a fire spreading through a forest.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kāṇika is giving counsel in the idiom of nīti (practical statecraft), warning that political and personal security requires timely attention to emerging hostility; negligence allows an adversary to grow beyond control.