Shloka 11
Saṃsāra-gahana-jñāna: Vidura’s Account of Embodiment, Bondage, and Dharmic Release (संसारगहन-ज्ञानम्)
यमदूतैर्विंकृष्यंश्व मृत्युं कालेन गच्छति । वाग्घीनस्य च यन्मात्रमिष्टानिष्टं कृतं मुखे । भूय एवात्मना55त्मानं बध्यमानमुपेक्षते,तदनन्तर कालसे प्रेरित हो यमदूत उसे शरीरसे बाहर खींच लेते हैं और वह मृत्युको प्राप्त हो जाता है। उस समय उसमें बोलनेकी भी शक्ति नहीं रहती। उसके जितने भी शुभ या अशुभ कर्म हैं वे सामने प्रकट होते हैं। उनके अनुसार पुनः अपने-आपको देहबन्धनमें बँधता हुआ देखकर भी वह उपेक्षा कर देता है--अपने उद्धारका प्रयत्न नहीं करता
yamadūtair viṅkṛṣyaṁś ca mṛtyuṁ kālena gacchati | vāg-hīnasya ca yan-mātram iṣṭāniṣṭaṁ kṛtaṁ mukhe | bhūya evātmanātmānaṁ badhyamānam upekṣate |
Vidura said: “Dragged out by Yama’s messengers, a man, driven by Time, goes to his death. At that moment he is bereft of speech; whatever good or evil he has done stands revealed before him. Yet even while seeing himself once again bound by his own self into bodily bondage according to those deeds, he remains indifferent—he does not strive for his own deliverance.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
One’s fate at death is shaped by one’s own deeds: when speech and control fail at the final moment, karma becomes evident and leads to renewed bondage (rebirth). Therefore one should not remain negligent; while alive, one must strive for self-uplift through dharma and inner discipline.
Vidura describes the dying person being seized by Yama’s messengers and carried to death under the compulsion of Time. The person becomes speechless; his good and bad actions appear before him, and despite seeing the consequences—being bound again into embodiment—he still fails to make an effort toward liberation.