Shloka 25

Devanagari script

अव्यक्तप्रकृतिरयं कलाशरीर: सूक्ष्मात्मा क्षणत्रुटिशो निमेषरोमा | ऋत्वास्थ: समबलशुक्‍क्लकृष्णनेत्रो मासाड्रे द्रवति वयोहयो नराणाम्‌,मनुष्योंका आयुरूप अश्व बड़े वेगसे दौड़ा जा रहा है। इसका स्वभाव अव्यक्त है। कला-काष्ठा आदि इसके शरीर हैं। इसका स्वरूप अत्यन्त सूक्ष्म है। क्षण, त्रुटि (चुटकी) और निमेष आदि इसके रोम हैं। ऋतुएँ मुख हैं। समान बलवाले शुक्ल और कृष्णपक्ष नेत्र हैं तथा महीने इसके विभिन्न अंग हैं। वह भयंकर वेगशाली अश्व यहाँकी किसी वस्तुकी अपेक्षा न रखकर निरन्तर अविराम गतिसे वेगपूर्वक भागा जा रहा है। उसे देखकर यदि तुम्हारी ज्ञानदृष्टि दूसरेके द्वारा चलानेपर चलनेवाली नहीं है; तो तुम्हारा मन धर्ममें ही लगना चाहिये। तुम दूसरे धर्मात्माओंपर भी दृष्टि डालो

Transliteration

avyaktaprakṛtir ayaṁ kalāśarīraḥ sūkṣmātmā kṣaṇa-truṭiśo nimeṣaromā | ṛtvāsthaḥ samabalaśukla-kṛṣṇa-netro māsāṅge dravati vayo-hayo narāṇām ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: This steed that is the lifespan of human beings rushes on with tremendous speed. Its nature is unmanifest; its body is made of kalā and kāṣṭhā (the measures of time). Its essence is exceedingly subtle; moments, instants, and blinks are its hairs. The seasons are its mouth; the bright and dark fortnights, equal in strength, are its two eyes; and the months are its limbs. Without waiting for anything here, it runs ceaselessly, unbroken, ever onward. Seeing this, if your insight is not something that moves only when driven by another, then let your mind be fixed in dharma, and look also to other righteous people as guides.

Word by Word

अव्यक्तप्रकृतिःof unmanifest nature

अयम्this

कालशरीरःhaving time as its body

सूक्ष्मात्माof extremely subtle essence

क्षणत्रुटिशःin terms of moments and instants (as units)

निमेषरोमाhaving blinks as its hairs

ऋत्वास्थःresting/standing on the seasons

समबलःof equal strength

शुक्लकृष्णनेत्रःhaving white and black (fortnight) as eyes

मासाःmonths

अङ्गेin the limbs / as limbs

द्रवतिruns, hastens

वयःlife-span, age

हयःhorse

नराणाम्of men

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

vayo-haya (the horse of human lifespan/time)

Ṛ

ṛtu (seasons)

śukla-pakṣa (bright fortnight)

kṛṣṇa-pakṣa (dark fortnight)

māsa (months)

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—experienced as one’s lifespan—moves irresistibly and does not pause for anyone. Recognizing this, one should not let one’s understanding be merely reactive or dependent on others’ impulses; instead, one should deliberately anchor the mind in dharma and learn from the conduct of the righteous.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa delivers an instruction using an extended metaphor: human lifespan is a powerful horse whose body is made of time-units, whose hairs are tiny instants, whose mouth is the seasons, whose eyes are the waxing and waning fortnights, and whose limbs are the months. The image emphasizes relentless motion and urges ethical resolve.