ज्ञातयो यस्य नैव स्युर् विषमाः कुलपांसनाः ॥
स जीवेत् सुसुखं लोके ग्रामे द्रुम इवैकजः ॥
एको वृक्षो हि यो ग्रामे भवेत् पर्णफलान्वितः ॥
चैत्यो भवति निर्ज्ञातिर् अर्चनीयः सुपूजितः ॥
येषां च बहवः शूरा ज्ञातयो धर्मसंश्रिताः ॥
ते जीवन्ति सुखं लोके भवन्ति च निरामयाः ॥
बलवन्तः समृद्धार्था मित्रबान्धवनन्दनाः ॥
जीवन्त्य् अन्योन्यम् आश्रित्य द्रुमाः काननजा इव ॥
jñātayo yasya naiva syur viṣamāḥ kulapāṃsanāḥ ||
sa jīvet susukhaṃ loke grāme druma ivaikajaḥ ||
eko vṛkṣo hi yo grāme bhavet parṇaphalānvitaḥ ||
caityo bhavati nirjñātir arcanīyaḥ supūjitaḥ ||
yeṣāṃ ca bahavaḥ śūrā jñātayo dharmasaṃśritāḥ ||
te jīvanti sukhaṃ loke bhavanti ca nirāmayāḥ ||
balavantaḥ samṛddhārthā mitrabāndhavanandanāḥ ||
jīvanty anyonyam āśritya drumāḥ kānanajā iva ||
"One who has no treacherous kinsmen who disgrace the family lives well in the world, like a single tree standing alone in a village; for a lone tree in a village, if it is full of leaves and fruit, becomes a shrine, honored and worshiped, even without kin of its own. But one who has many heroic kinsmen devoted to dharma — such people live happily in the world and are free from affliction: strong, prosperous, a joy to friends and family, they live leaning on one another, like trees grown up together in a forest."
9f98f0df06da · published Jul 12, 2026, 5:03:09 PM UTC
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Here Bhima reflects on the double nature of kinship. Telling are the two images: the solitary tree-shrine — the good of having no wicked kin; and the grove of trees leaning on one another — the good of righteous kin. Here is a subtle truth: kin are not always a blessing; treacherous kinsmen (like the Kauravas) are worse than being alone, while righteous kin are support and protection. It is telling that the measure of kinship is dharma: what matters is not many kinsmen but kinsmen "devoted to dharma." A deeper meaning opens here too: true kinship is by dharma, not by blood; and the company of the righteous — sadhu-sanga — is that "grove" where souls support one another toward the good. Thus scripture, through Bhima's words, shows that not every kinship is a blessing, only the righteous one, and that wicked kinsmen are the worst of calamities, as the Pandavas themselves had learned.