Shloka 116
Adhyāya 6: Vidura’s Saṃsāra-Upamā
The Allegory of the Well, Time, and Desire
रात्यहानि तु तान्याहुर्भूतानां परिचिन्तका: । छः: ऋतुएँ ही उसके छः मुख हैं और बारह महीने ही बारह पैर बताये गये हैं। जो चूहे सदा उद्यत रहकर उस वृक्षको काटते हैं, उन चूहोंको विचारशील विद्वान प्राणियोंके दिन और रात बताते हैं
rātryahānī tu tāny āhur bhūtānāṃ paricintakāḥ | ṣaḍ ṛtava eva tasya ṣaḍmukhāḥ proktāḥ dvādaśa māsā eva dvādaśa pādāḥ kathitāḥ | ye mūṣakāḥ sadodyatāḥ san vṛkṣaṃ chindanti tān mūṣakān vicāraśīlā vidvāṃso bhūtānāṃ rātriṃ ca divā ca vadanti |
Vidura explains, in the language of a moral allegory, that the ceaseless passage of time consumes all embodied beings. The wise identify the two ever-active ‘mice’ gnawing at the tree of life as day and night; the tree’s six ‘faces’ are the six seasons, and its twelve ‘feet’ are the twelve months. The teaching is that life is steadily worn away by time, so one should awaken to discernment and live with purposeful dharma rather than negligence.
विदुर उवाच