Shloka 25
Vidura’s Return; Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Departure; Nārada’s Instruction on Kāla and Detachment
तस्यापि तव देहोऽयं कृपणस्य जिजीविषो: । परैत्यनिच्छतो जीर्णो जरया वाससी इव ॥ २५ ॥
tasyāpi tava deho ’yaṁ kṛpaṇasya jijīviṣoḥ paraity anicchato jīrṇo jarayā vāsasī iva
Despite your unwillingness to die and your desire to live even at the cost of honor and prestige, your miserly body will certainly dwindle and deteriorate like an old garment.
The words kṛpaṇasya jijīviṣoḥ are significant. There are two classes of men. One is called the kṛpaṇa, and the other is called the brāhmaṇa. The kṛpaṇa, or the miserly man, has no estimation of his material body, but the brāhmaṇa has a true estimation of himself and the material body. The kṛpaṇa, having a wrong estimation of his material body, wants to enjoy sense gratification with his utmost strength, and even in old age he wants to become a young man by medical treatment or otherwise. Dhṛtarāṣṭra is addressed herein as a kṛpaṇa because without any estimation of his material body he wants to live at any cost. Vidura is trying to open his eyes to see that he cannot live more than his term and that he must prepare for death. Since death is inevitable, why should he accept such a humiliating position for living? It is better to take the right path, even at the risk of death. Human life is meant for finishing all kinds of miseries of material existence, and life should be so regulated that one can achieve the desired goal. Dhṛtarāṣṭra, due to his wrong conception of life, had already spoiled eighty percent of his achieved energy, so it behooved him to utilize the remaining days of his miserly life for the ultimate good. Such a life is called miserly because one cannot properly utilize the assets of the human form of life. Only by good luck does such a miserly man meet a self-realized soul like Vidura and by his instruction gets rid of the nescience of material existence.
FAQs
This verse compares the body to clothing: time and old age inevitably wear it out and take it away, even if one wants to keep living.
Vidura aimed to awaken Dhritarashtra from blind attachment and fear of death, urging him toward renunciation and spiritual progress before time forcibly ends his life.
Remember the body’s inevitability of decline, reduce obsessive clinging to comfort and status, and prioritize bhakti and inner discipline while time remains.