Shloka 166
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 3 — Janamejaya’s Rite, Dhaumya’s Parīkṣā, and Uttanka’s Kuṇḍala Quest (सर्पसत्रप्रस्तावना–गुरुपरीक्षा–उत्तङ्कोपाख्यान)
ये ते स्त्रियौ धाता विधाता च ये च ते कृष्णा: सितास्तन्तवस्ते रातज्यहनी । यदपि तच्चक्रं द्वादशारं षड़् वै कुमारा: परिवर्तयन्ति तेडपि षड़् ऋतव: द्वादशारा द्वादश मासा: संवत्सरश्षक्रम्,वे जो दोनों स्त्रियाँ थीं, वे धाता और विधाता हैं। जो काले और सफेद तन््तु थे, वे रात और दिन हैं। बारह अरोंसे युक्त चक्रको जो छ: कुमार घुमा रहे थे, वे छः ऋतुएँ हैं। बारह महीने ही बारह अरे हैं। संवत्सर ही वह चक्र है
ye te striyau dhātā vidhātā ca ye ca te kṛṣṇāḥ sitās tantavas te rātryahanī | yad api tac cakraṃ dvādaśāraṃ ṣaḍ vai kumārāḥ parivartayanti te 'pi ṣaḍ ṛtavaḥ | dvādaśārā dvādaśa māsāḥ saṃvatsaraś cakram ||
Rāma said: “Those two women you saw are Dhātā and Vidhātā, the cosmic ordainers. The black and white threads are Night and Day. The wheel with twelve spokes, which six youths were turning, is the cycle of the six seasons; its twelve spokes are the twelve months. That wheel itself is the Year (Saṃvatsara), the great turning order by which time and duty are measured.”
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that human life and duty unfold within an ordered cosmic rhythm: night/day, seasons, and months are not random but expressions of a governing principle (Dhātā–Vidhātā). Recognizing the ‘wheel of time’ encourages steadiness, humility, and timely performance of dharma.
Rāma interprets a symbolic vision: two women, black/white threads, and a twelve-spoked wheel turned by six youths. He explains these as personifications and images of time—Dhātā and Vidhātā, night and day, the six seasons, the twelve months, and the year itself.