SB 3.1.21 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तत्राथ शुश्राव सुहृद्विनष्टिं वनं यथा वेणुजवह्निसंश्रयम् । संस्पर्धया दग्धमथानुशोचन् सरस्वतीं प्रत्यगियाय तूष्णीम् ॥ २१ ॥

Verse text

tatrātha śuśrāva suhṛd-vinaṣṭiṁ vanaṁ yathā veṇuja-vahni-saṁśrayam saṁspardhayā dagdham athānuśocan sarasvatīṁ pratyag iyāya tūṣṇīm

Synonyms

tatra — there ; atha — thereafter ; śuśrāva — heard ; suhṛt — kinsmen ; vinaṣṭim — all dead ; vanam — forest ; yathā — as much as ; veṇuja — vahni — fire due to the bamboos ; saṁśrayam — friction with one another ; saṁspardhayā — by violent passion ; dagdham — burnt ; atha — thus ; anuśocan — grieving ; sarasvatīm — the river Sarasvatī ; pratyak — westward ; iyāya — went ; tūṣṇīm — silently .

Translation

At the place of pilgrimage at Prabhāsa, it came to his knowledge that all his relatives had died due to violent passion, just as an entire forest burns due to fire produced by the friction of bamboos. After this he proceeded west, where the river Sarasvatī flows.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

In Prabhāsa he heard about the destruction of his friends by rivalry, just as a forest is burned up by fire generated by friction of bamboos. In grief he proceeded silently to the Sarasvatī River flowing west. In Prabhāsa (tatra) he heard about the destruction of his friends, the Kauravas. Because he was not friends with Duryodhana and others, some explain that destruction of friends means the destruction of the Yadus, which he heard on meeting Uddhava. This was just like a forest burning up. Pratyak means flowing west.

Purport

Both the Kauravas and the Yādavas were relatives of Vidura, and Vidura heard of their extinction due to fratricidal war. The comparison of the friction of forest bamboos to that of passionate human societies is appropriate. The whole world is compared to a forest. At any moment there may be a flare-up of fire in the forest due to friction. No one goes to the forest to set it on fire, but due only to friction between bamboos, fire takes place and burns an entire forest. Similarly, in the greater forest of worldly transaction, the fire of war takes place because of the violent passion of the conditioned souls illusioned by the external energy. Such a worldly fire can be extinguished only by the water of the mercy cloud of saints, just as a forest fire can be extinguished only by rains falling from a cloud.