Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 8: The Conversation Between Kaikeyī and Mantharā
Text 2.8.30
श्रूयते हि द्रुमः कश्चिच्छेत्तव्यो वनजीविभिः।
सन्निकर्षादिषीकाभिर्मोचितः परमाद्भयात्॥
śrūyate hi drumaḥ kaścic chettavyo vana-jīvibhiḥ
sannikarṣād iṣīkābhir mocitaḥ paramād bhayāt
śrūyate hi = I have heard; drumaḥ = tree; kaścit = that a; chettavyaḥ = meant to be cut; vana-jīvibhiḥ = by those who subsist on the forest; sannikarṣāt = in the proximity of the tree; iṣīkābhiḥ = [simply] because of the thorny iṣikā bushes; mocitaḥ = is protected and freed; paramāt = from the great; bhayāt = danger of being cut.
I have heard that a tree meant to be cut by those who subsist on the forest is protected and freed from the great danger of being cut [simply] because of the thorny iṣikā bushes in the proximity of the tree.
Mantharā now explains how affection develops even for immovable creatures living nearby.
A tree that has reached the time for being cut by those who subsist on the food in the forest is freed from the great danger of being cut by bushes of iṣikā thorns in the proximity of the tree, that is, surrounding the tree.
Mantharā has heard this through word of mouth. Because she has been always inside the inner quarters, she did not directly perceive this [phenomenon]. Therefore, she says “I have heard.”