वनं यथा वेणुजवह्निसंश्रयम् ।
संस्पर्धया दग्धमथानुशोचन्
सरस्वतीं प्रत्यगियाय तूष्णीम् ॥२१॥
tatrÄtha Å›uÅ›rÄva suhá¹›d-vinaá¹£á¹iá¹
vanaá¹ yathÄ veṇuja-vahni-samÅ›rayam
saá¹spardhayÄ dagdham athÄnuÅ›ocan
sarasvatÄ«á¹ pratyag iyÄya tūṣṇīm
tatra - there; atha - thereafter; Å›uÅ›rÄva - heard; suhá¹›t - kinsmen; vinaá¹£á¹im - all dead; vanam - forest; yathÄ - as much as; veṇuja-vahni - fire due to the bamboos; samÅ›rayam - friction with one another; saá¹spardhayÄ - by violent passion; dagdham - burnt; atha - thus; anuÅ›ocan - thinking; sarasvatÄ«m - the River SarasvatÄ«; pratyak - westward; iyÄya - went; tūṣṇīm - silently.
At the place of pilgrimage at PrabhÄsa, 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 SarasvatÄ« flows.
Both the Kauravas and the YÄdavas 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.
