Shloka 146

Devanagari script

त्रीण्यर्पितान्यत्र शतानि मध्ये षष्टिश्व नित्यं चरति ध्रुवेडस्मिन्‌ । चक्रे चतुर्विशतिपर्वयोगे षड्‌ वै कुमारा: परिवर्तयन्ति,यह जो अविनाशी कालचक्र निरन्तर चल रहा है, इसके भीतर तीन सौ साठ अरे हैं, चौबीस पर्व हैं और इस चक्रको छः कुमार घुमा रहे हैं

Transliteration

trīṇy arpitāny atra śatāni madhye ṣaṣṭiś ca nityaṃ carati dhruve ’smin | cakre caturviśati-parva-yoge ṣaḍ vai kumārāḥ parivartayanti ||

Translation

Rāma said: “Within this steadfast, imperishable wheel of Time that moves unceasingly, there are three hundred and sixty spokes. Joined with twenty-four ‘joints’ (divisions), this wheel is turned again and again by six youthful powers.”

Word by Word

त्रीणिthree

अर्पितानिplaced/assigned

अत्रhere/in this (context)

शतानिhundreds

मध्येin the middle/within

षष्टिःsixty

चand

नित्यम्always/constantly

चरतिmoves/goes on

ध्रुवेin the fixed/steady (axis)

अस्मिन्in this

चक्रेin the wheel/cycle

चतुर्विंशति-पर्व-योगेin the arrangement/connection of twenty-four joints/periods

षट्six

वैindeed/verily

कुमाराःyouths/sons (kumāras)

परिवर्तयन्तिcause to turn/rotate

Speaker

राम उवाच

Characters & Entities

Rāma

kāla-cakra (Wheel of Time)

360 spokes (arāḥ implied)

24 parvans (divisions/joints)

six kumāras

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Time operates as an impersonal, orderly cycle with fixed measures (360 and 24 divisions), driven by governing forces; recognizing this encourages disciplined living and humility before cosmic law (dharma) rather than complacency.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker (Rāma) describes a cosmological image: an imperishable wheel of Time that constantly turns, structured by numerical divisions and set in motion by six ‘kumāras’ (youthful powers/agents), to explain the regulated progression of the world.