Shloka 62
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 3 — Janamejaya’s Rite, Dhaumya’s Parīkṣā, and Uttanka’s Kuṇḍala Quest (सर्पसत्रप्रस्तावना–गुरुपरीक्षा–उत्तङ्कोपाख्यान)
एकं॑ चक्र वर्तते द्वादशारं षण्णाभिमेकाक्षमृतस्य धारणम् | यस्मिन् देवा अधि विश्वे विषक्ता- स्तावश्चिनौ मुज्चतं मा विषीदतम्,अश्विनीकुमारो! मेष आदि बारह राशियाँ जिसके बारह अरे, छहों ऋतुएँ जिसकी छः: नाभियाँ हैं और संवत्सर जिसकी एक धुरी है, वह एकमात्र कालचक्र सब ओर चल रहा है। यही कर्मफलको धारण करनेवाला आधार है। इसीमें सम्पूर्ण कालाभिमानी देवता स्थित हैं। आप दोनों मुझे इस कालचक्रसे मुक्त करें, क्योंकि मैं यहाँ जन्म आदिके दुःखसे अत्यन्त वष्ट पा रहा हूँ
ekaṃ cakraṃ vartate dvādaśāraṃ ṣaṇṇābhim ekākṣam ṛtasya dhāraṇam | yasmin devā adhi viśve viṣaktās tāv aśvinau muñcataṃ mā viṣīdatam, aśvinīkumārau ||
Rāma said: “A single wheel of Time keeps turning—twelve-spoked, with six hubs, and one axle—upholding the cosmic order. In it all the gods who preside over time are set and bound. O Aśvinīkumāras, release me from this wheel; do not let me sink into despair, for I am grievously afflicted here by the sufferings of birth and the rest.”
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents Time as an all-encompassing cosmic wheel that sustains ṛta (order) and binds even divine powers within its cycle. The ethical-spiritual thrust is a recognition of saṃsāric suffering—birth and its attendant pains—and a plea for release, implying that true well-being lies beyond mere participation in the cycle and requires liberating aid and insight.
Rāma addresses the Aśvin twins, invoking them as rescuers and healers. He describes the cosmic wheel of time—symbolically mapped as twelve spokes and six hubs—and laments his affliction by the sufferings of embodied existence, asking the Aśvinīkumāras to free him from this binding cycle.