द्वाव् एतौ ग्रसते भूमिः सर्पो बिलशयान् इव ॥
राजानं चाविरोद्धारं ब्राह्मणं चाप्रवासिनम् ॥
नास्ति वै जातितः शत्रुः पुरुषस्य विशां पते ॥
येन साधारणी वृत्तिः स शत्रुर् नेतरो जनः ॥
शत्रुपक्षं समृध्यन्तं यो मोहात् समुपेक्षते ॥
व्याधिर् आप्यायित इव तस्य मूलं छिनत्ति सः ॥
अल्पो ऽपि ह्य् अरिर् अत्यन्तं वर्धमानपराक्रमः ॥
वल्मीको मूलज इव ग्रसते वृक्षम् अन्तिकात् ॥
dvāv etau grasate bhūmiḥ sarpo bilaśayān iva ||
rājānaṃ cāviroddhāraṃ brāhmaṇaṃ cāpravāsinam ||
nāsti vai jātitaḥ śatruḥ puruṣasya viśāṃ pate ||
yena sādhāraṇī vṛttiḥ sa śatrur netaro janaḥ ||
śatrupakṣaṃ samṛdhyantaṃ yo mohāt samupekṣate ||
vyādhir āpyāyita iva tasya mūlaṃ chinatti saḥ ||
alpo 'pi hy arir atyantaṃ vardhamānaparākramaḥ ||
valmīko mūlaja iva grasate vṛkṣam antikāt ||
Earth swallows these two, as a serpent swallows the dwellers of burrows: a king who does not wage war, and a brahmin who does not travel. A man has no enemy by birth, O lord of the people; the enemy is he with whom [one's] interests collide, and no other man. Whoever out of delusion disregards a hostile faction as it grows — that faction, like a disease that is fed, cuts him off at the root. Even a small enemy, with might ever growing, like an anthill rising from the root, devours the tree nearby.
a041393ce817 · publicado 16 jul 2026, 15:49:22 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
'There is no enemy by birth — the enemy is he whose interests collide with one's own': Duryodhana reduces enmity to a clash of advantage. It is significant how cold this wisdom is — it leaves no place for kinship, affection, or dharma, only the calculus of gain. The verse shows where such a view leads: it turns every thriving neighbor into an enemy, for another's growth is felt as a threat. And the image of the anthill gnawing at the tree is an exact portrait of envy itself: a small grudge, once fed, undermines and fells even the great. But Duryodhana applies it to his own brother, when the gnawing worm is within himself. Whoever sees an enemy in every growing thing is doomed to endless war; and the doctrine 'crush the rival' is itself the disease that will cut down the one who professes it.