Shloka 11
कālacakra-वर्णनम् तथा āśrama-धarma-निरूपणम्
The Wheel of Time and the Norms of the Āśramas
कालचक्रप्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं चैव तत्त्वतः । यस्तु वेद नरो नित्यं न स भूतेषु मुह्ृति,जो मनुष्य इस देहमय कालचक्रकी प्रवृत्ति और निवृत्तिको सदा अच्छी तरह जानता है, वह कभी मोहमें नहीं पड़ता
kālacakrapravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ caiva tattvataḥ | yastu veda naro nityaṃ na sa bhūteṣu muhyati ||
Vāyu said: “The man who constantly understands, in truth, both the onward turning and the withdrawal of the wheel of time that operates through embodied existence—he does not fall into delusion amid living beings.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
True clarity comes from understanding time’s cyclical operation in embodied life—its movement into activity (pravṛtti) and its return/cessation (nivṛtti). One who sees both as they really are does not become confused by changing conditions, gains and losses, or the shifting fortunes of beings.
Vāyudeva is instructing the listener with a concise philosophical maxim. He frames a criterion for freedom from delusion: steady insight into the ‘wheel of time’ that governs embodied existence, especially the twin paths of engagement in the world and withdrawal from it.