Shloka 4

Vetasa-Nīti: The Reed and the Flood (वेतस-नीति)

Devanagari script

सागर उवाच समूलशाखान्‌ पश्यामि निहतान्‌ कायिनो द्रुमान्‌ युष्माभिरिह पूर्णाभिन्नद्यस्तत्र न वेतसम्‌

Transliteration

sāgara uvāca | samūlaśākhān paśyāmi nihatān kāyino drumān | yuṣmābhir iha pūrṇābhinnādyas tatra na vetasam ||

Translation

萨伽罗说道：“诸河啊！我见你们洪涨盈溢、冲决两岸奔涌之时，将巨木连根带枝拔起，倒伏而被你们带到此处；然而在你们所携来的一切之中，我却不见一株vetasa（芦苇/藤芦）。”

Word by Word

• सागरः: the ocean
• सागरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सागर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect, 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• समूलशाखान्: with roots and branches (entire, uprooted)
• समूलशाखान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समूलशाख
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• पश्यामि: I see
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: Present, 1st, Singular, Parasmaipada

• निहतान्: struck down / destroyed
• निहतान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि-हन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural, क्त (past passive participle)

• कायिनः: huge-bodied, massive
• कायिनः: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कायिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• द्रुमान्: trees
• द्रुमान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रुम
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• युष्माभिः: by you (pl.)
• युष्माभिः: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Instrumental, Plural

• इह: here
• इह: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह

• पूर्णाः: full
• पूर्णाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्ण
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• अभिन्नाः: unbroken / not split (i.e., not dispersed)
• अभिन्नाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ-भिन्न
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural, क्त (past passive participle)

• नद्यः: rivers
• नद्यः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नदी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• तत्र: there / among them
• तत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• वेतसम्: a cane/willow (vetasa)
• वेतसम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेतस
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

सागर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sāgara (Ocean)
• Nadyaḥ (Rivers)
• Drumāḥ (Trees)
• Vetasa (reed/cane)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a natural image to suggest an ethical lesson: rigid, massive things are uprooted and destroyed by force, while the flexible vetasa (reed/cane) survives and therefore is not seen among the wreckage. It points toward adaptability, humility, and non-rigidity as protective virtues.

What is happening in the narrative?

The Ocean (Sāgara), speaking to the rivers, observes that when they flood and break their banks they carry away uprooted great trees, yet no vetasa is among them. This remark sets up a moral comparison between what gets broken by turbulent force and what endures by bending.