tatratha susrava suhrd-vinastim
vanam yatha venuja-vahni-samsrayam
samspardhaya dagdham athanusocan
sarasvatim pratyag iyaya tusnim
tatra -- there; atha -- thereafter; susrava -- heard; suhrt -- kinsmen; vinastim -- all dead; vanam -- forest; yatha -- as much as; venuja-vahni -- fire due to the bamboos; samsrayam -- friction with one another; samspardhaya -- by violent passion; dagdham -- burnt; atha -- thus; anusocan -- grieving; sarasvatim -- the River Sarasvati; pratyak -- westward; iyaya -- went; tusnim -- silently.
Both the Kauravas and the Yadavas 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.
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