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 |
વિચારશીલ વિદ્વાનો કહે છે—સદા ઉદ્યત રહી જે બે ઉંદરાં તે વૃક્ષને કોતરતાં રહે છે, તે પ્રાણીઓના ‘દિવસ’ અને ‘રાત’ છે।
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time steadily consumes the lifespan of all beings: day and night ‘gnaw’ without pause, while seasons and months mark the structure of passing time. Therefore one should cultivate discernment and live deliberately in dharma, not in heedlessness.
Vidura is speaking in the Stree Parva and uses a symbolic description—tree, mice, seasons, months—to interpret human life as being continually worn down by the cycle of time.