वरं घोरान्धकूपेषु कोटरेष्वेव भूरुहाम् । अन्धकीटत्वमेकान्ते न मौर्ख्यमतिदुःखदम् ॥ १८ ॥
varaṁ ghōrāndhakūpēṣu kōṭarēṣvēva bhūruhām | andhakīṭatvamēkāntē na maurkhyamatiduḥkhadam || 18 ||
Translation
Better to be a blind worm alone in some dreadful dark well or in the hollows of trees than to have folly, which gives such sorrow.
Word by word
- varaṁ
- better
- ghōra
- dreadful
- andhakūpēṣu
- in a dark well
- kōṭarēṣu
- in the hollows
- ēva
- even
- bhūruhām
- of trees
- andhakīṭatvam
- to be a blind worm
- ēkāntē
- alone
- na
- not
- maurkhyam
- folly
- ati
- such
- duḥkhadam
- gives sorrow
Meaning
A second comparison, stronger than the first. A worm suffers its condition, and there the matter ends. A person with folly has been given the means to wake and does not use them, and goes on making harm for himself and others. The rhetoric is extreme, and it is meant to shock a comfortable reader.