Vidura's Parable of the Man in the Forest Well

Verse 1 (11.5.1)

यदिदं धर्मगहनं बुद्ध्या समनुबुध्यते । एतद्विस्तरतः सर्वं बुद्धिमार्गं प्रशंस मे ॥

yadidaṃ dharmagahanaṃ buddhyā samanubudhyate | etadvistarataḥ sarvaṃ buddhimārgaṃ praśaṃsa me

Dhritarashtra said: Explain to me at length, by the path of the understanding, all this thicket of dharma that the intellect comes to grasp.

Verse 2 (11.5.2)

अत्र ते वर्तयिष्यामि नमस्कृत्वा स्वयम्भुवे । यथा संसारगहनं वदन्ति परमर्षयः ॥

atra te vartayiṣyāmi namaskṛtvā svayambhuve | yathā saṃsāragahanaṃ vadanti paramarṣayaḥ

Vidura said: Bowing to the Self-born, I shall set it before you, as the great sages describe the thicket of worldly existence.

Note on the text: Corrected सर्वयिष्यामि → वर्तयिष्यामि (misprint in Wikisource; not a Sanskrit form; the critical edition reads vartayiṣyāmi).

Verse 3 (11.5.3)

कश्चिन्महति कान्तारे वर्तमानो द्विजः किल । महद्दुर्गमनुप्राप्तो वनं क्रव्यादसङ्कुलम् ॥

kaścinmahati kāntāre vartamāno dvijaḥ kila | mahaddurgamanuprāpto vanaṃ kravyādasaṅkulam

They say that a certain brahmin, passing through a great wilderness, came to a vast and impassable forest crowded with flesh-eating beasts,

Note on the text: Recension variant, kept: Wikisource महति कान्तारे … महद्दुर्गम् against CE mahati saṃsāre … durgam … mahat.

Verse 4 (11.5.4)

सिंहव्याघ्रगजर्क्षौघैरतिघोरमहास्वनैः । पिशितादैरतिभयैर्महोग्राकृतिभिस्तथा ॥

siṃhavyāghragajarkṣaughairatighoramahāsvanaiḥ | piśitādairatibhayairmahogrākṛtibhistathā

a forest teeming with troops of lions, tigers, elephants and bears of terrible, mighty roars, and with flesh-eaters too, most fearful and savage of form.

Note on the text: Line 1 is a variant of CE 11.5.4a (CE siṃhavyāghragajākārair atighorair mahāśanaiḥ); line 2 is the critical edition's star passage 11.5.4b*0018_01 (piśitādair atibhayair mahogrākṛtibhis tathā). The alignment found no match.

Verse 5 (11.5.5)

समन्तात्सम्परिक्षिप्तं यस्माद्द्रष्टुर्महद्भयम् । तदस्य दृष्ट्वा हृदयमुद्वेगमगमत्परम् ॥

samantātsamparikṣiptaṃ yasmāddraṣṭurmahadbhayam | tadasya dṛṣṭvā hṛdayamudvegamagamatparam

It was beset on every side by them, so that great fear came to whoever looked on it; and seeing this, his heart was struck with the deepest alarm.

Note on the text: Line 1 is a variant of CE 11.5.4c (CE samantāt saṃparikṣiptaṃ mṛtyor api bhayapradam); line 2 = CE 11.5.5a. The alignment found no match.

Verse 6 (11.5.6)

अभ्युच्छ्रयन्ति रोमाणि विक्रियाश्च परन्तप । स तद्वनं व्यनुसरन्सम्प्रधावन्नितस्ततः ॥

abhyucchrayanti romāṇi vikriyāśca parantapa | sa tadvanaṃ vyanusaransampradhāvannitastataḥ

His hair stood on end and his body was convulsed, O scorcher of foes. He ran about in that forest, rushing this way and that,

Note on the text: Corrected रमाणि → रोमाणि (misprint in Wikisource; dropped ो; the critical edition reads romṇāṃ, "the hairs"). Line 1 is a variant of CE 11.5.5c (abhyucchrayaś ca romṇāṃ vai vikriyāś ca paraṃtapa); line 2 is a variant of CE 11.5.6a (CE sa tad vanaṃ vyanusaran vipradhāvan itas tataḥ). The alignment found no match.

Verse 7 (11.5.7)

वीक्षमाणो दिशः सर्वाः शरणं क्व भवेदिति । स तेषां नाशमन्विच्छन्प्रद्रुतो भयपीडितः । न च निर्याति वै दूरं न वा तैर्विप्रयुज्यते ॥

vīkṣamāṇo diśaḥ sarvāḥ śaraṇaṃ kva bhavediti | sa teṣāṃ nāśamanvicchanpradruto bhayapīḍitaḥ | na ca niryāti vai dūraṃ na vā tairviprayujyate

looking in every direction: "Where might there be shelter?" Seeking to destroy them, he fled, tormented by fear, yet he got no great distance from them, nor was he ever free of them.

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 11.5.6c; lines 2–3 are CE 11.5.7a and 7c (CE sa teṣāṃ chidram anvicchan …, "seeking a gap", where the page reads नाशम्, "destruction"). The alignment found no match.

Verse 8 (11.5.8)

अथापश्यद्वनं गूढं समन्ताद्वागुरावृतम् । बाहुभ्यां सम्परिष्वक्तः स्त्रिया परमघोरया ॥

athāpaśyadvanaṃ gūḍhaṃ samantādvāgurāvṛtam | bāhubhyāṃ sampariṣvaktaḥ striyā paramaghorayā

Then he saw the hidden forest, enclosed on every side by snares, while a woman of the most dreadful aspect held him in the embrace of her arms.

Verse 9 (11.5.9)

पञ्चशीर्षधरैर्नागैः शैलैरिव समुन्नतैः । नभःस्पृशैर्महावृक्षैः परिक्षिप्तं महावनम् ॥

pañcaśīrṣadharairnāgaiḥ śailairiva samunnataiḥ | nabhaḥspṛśairmahāvṛkṣaiḥ parikṣiptaṃ mahāvanam

The great forest was enclosed by five-headed serpents, lofty as mountains, and by huge trees that touched the sky.

Verse 10 (11.5.10)

वनमध्ये च तत्राभूदुदपानः समावृतः । वल्लीभिस्तृणनद्धाभिर्गूढाभिरभिसंवृतः ॥

vanamadhye ca tatrābhūdudapānaḥ samāvṛtaḥ | vallībhistṛṇanaddhābhirgūḍhābhirabhisaṃvṛtaḥ

In the middle of that forest there was a well, covered over, hidden all round by creepers bound with grass.

Verse 11 (11.5.11)

पपात स द्विजस्तत्र निगूढे सलिलाशये । विलग्नश्चाभवत्तस्मिँल्लतासन्तानसङ्कुले ॥

papāta sa dvijastatra nigūḍhe salilāśaye | vilagnaścābhavattasmim̐llatāsantānasaṅkule

The brahmin fell into that hidden water, and stuck fast there in a tangle of clinging vines.

Verse 12 (11.5.12)

पनसस्य यथा जातं वृन्तबद्धं महाफलम् । स तथा लम्बते तत्र ह्यूर्ध्वपादो ह्यधः शिराः ॥

panasasya yathā jātaṃ vṛntabaddhaṃ mahāphalam | sa tathā lambate tatra hyūrdhvapādo hyadhaḥ śirāḥ

Like a great jackfruit that has grown fastened to its stalk, he hung there, feet upward and head downward.

Verse 13 (11.5.13)

अथ तत्रापि चान्योऽस्य भूयो जात उपद्रवः । कूपमध्ये महानागमपश्यत महाबलम् ॥

atha tatrāpi cānyo'sya bhūyo jāta upadravaḥ | kūpamadhye mahānāgamapaśyata mahābalam

And there yet another danger rose against him: in the middle of the well he saw a huge and mighty serpent,

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 11.5.13a; line 2 is the critical edition's star passage 11.5.13b*0021_01 (kūpamadhye mahānāgam apaśyata mahābalam). CE 13c is the next verse here.

Verse 14 (11.5.14)

कूपपीनाहवेलायामपश्यत् महागजम् ॥

kūpapīnāhavelāyāmapaśyat mahāgajam

and, at the rim of the well, an enormous elephant,

Note on the text: A single line in the page's division; it is CE 11.5.13c (kūpavīnāhavelāyām apaśyata mahāgajam), the closing line of the CE verse whose first line is the previous verse here. Nothing is lost. Wikisource पीनाह for CE vīnāha is a recension variant, kept.

Verse 15 (11.5.15)

षड्वक्त्रं कृष्णशबलं द्विषट्कपदचारिणम् । क्रमेण परिसर्पन्तं वल्लीवृक्षसमावृतम् ॥

ṣaḍvaktraṃ kṛṣṇaśabalaṃ dviṣaṭkapadacāriṇam | krameṇa parisarpantaṃ vallīvṛkṣasamāvṛtam

six-faced, dark and mottled, going on twelve feet, creeping step by step, surrounded by creepers and trees.

Verse 16 (11.5.16)

तस्य शाखाप्रशाखासु वृक्षशाखावलम्बिनः । नानारूपा मधुकरा घोररूपा भयावहाः ॥

tasya śākhāpraśākhāsu vṛkṣaśākhāvalambinaḥ | nānārūpā madhukarā ghorarūpā bhayāvahāḥ

On the branches and twigs of that tree, to which he clung, were bees of many kinds, dreadful in form and terrifying,

Note on the text: Lines 1–2 = CE 11.5.15a and 15c. The alignment found no match.

Verse 17 (11.5.17)

आसते मधु संवृत्य पूर्वमेव निकेतजाः । भूयोभूयः समीहन्ते मधूनि भरतर्षभ ॥

āsate madhu saṃvṛtya pūrvameva niketajāḥ | bhūyobhūyaḥ samīhante madhūni bharatarṣabha

who had long since stored up honey and sat on it, born in their own hives; again and again, O best of the Bharatas, they strive after more honey,

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 11.5.15e; line 2 = CE 11.5.16a (CE bhūyo bhūyaḥ samīhante madhūni bharatarṣabha). The alignment found no match.

Verse 18 (11.5.18)

स्वादनीयानि भूतानां यैर्बालो न वितृप्यते । तेषां मधूनां बहुधा धारा प्रस्रवते तदा ॥

svādanīyāni bhūtānāṃ yairbālo na vitṛpyate | teṣāṃ madhūnāṃ bahudhā dhārā prasravate tadā

honey that all creatures find sweet, and of which even a child is never sated. Of that honey a stream flowed down in many ways then.

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 11.5.16c; line 2 = CE 11.5.17a (CE sadā for तदा). The alignment found no match.

Verse 19 (11.5.19)

आलम्बमानः स पुमान्धारां पिबति सर्वदा । न चास्य तृष्णा विरता पिबमानस्य सङ्कटे ॥

ālambamānaḥ sa pumāndhārāṃ pibati sarvadā | na cāsya tṛṣṇā viratā pibamānasya saṅkaṭe

Hanging there, the man drank that stream continually; yet as he drank, in his dire plight, his thirst never ceased.

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 11.5.17c; line 2 = CE 11.5.17e. The alignment found no match.

Verse 20 (11.5.20)

अभीप्सति च तां नित्यमतृप्तः स पुनः पुनः । न चास्य जीविते राजन्निर्वेदः समजायत ॥

abhīpsati ca tāṃ nityamatṛptaḥ sa punaḥ punaḥ | na cāsya jīvite rājannirvedaḥ samajāyata

Never satisfied, he longed for it again and again, and no disgust with life arose in him, O king.

Verse 21 (11.5.21)

तत्रैव च मनुष्यस्य जीविताशा प्रतिष्ठिता । कृष्णाः श्वेताश्च तं वृक्षं निकृन्तन्ति स्म मूषिकाः ॥

tatraiva ca manuṣyasya jīvitāśā pratiṣṭhitā | kṛṣṇāḥ śvetāśca taṃ vṛkṣaṃ nikṛntanti sma mūṣikāḥ

And in that very place the man's hope of life was fixed. Black and white mice kept gnawing at that tree.

Verse 22 (11.5.22)

व्यालैश्च तद्वनं दुर्गं स्त्रिया च परमोग्रया । कूपाधस्ताच्च नागेन पीनाहे कुञ्जरेण च ॥

vyālaiśca tadvanaṃ durgaṃ striyā ca paramograyā | kūpādhastācca nāgena pīnāhe kuñjareṇa ca

The forest was made impassable by wild beasts and by the terrible woman; below the well was the serpent, and at its rim the elephant;

Verse 23 (11.5.23)

वृक्षप्रपाताच्च भयं मूषिकेभ्यश्च पञ्चमम् । मधुलोभान्मधुकरैः षष्ठमाहुर्महद्भयम् ॥

vṛkṣaprapātācca bhayaṃ mūṣikebhyaśca pañcamam | madhulobhānmadhukaraiḥ ṣaṣṭhamāhurmahadbhayam

then fear of the tree's falling, and from the mice a fifth; and from the bees, through greed for honey, they call it the sixth great fear.

Verse 24 (11.5.24)

एवं स वसते तत्र क्षिप्तः संसारसागरे । न चैव जीविताशायां निर्वेदमुपगच्छति ॥

evaṃ sa vasate tatra kṣiptaḥ saṃsārasāgare | na caiva jīvitāśāyāṃ nirvedamupagacchati

So he lives there, cast into the ocean of worldly existence, and even so feels no disgust at his hope of life.