Shloka 13
Saṃsāra-mārga-vistaraḥ
Vidura’s Expanded Account of the Path
वर्ष, मास, पक्ष, दिन-रात और संध्याएँ क्रमश: इसके रूप और आयुका शोषण करती ही रहती हैं। ये सब कालके प्रतिनिधि हैं। मूढ़ मनुष्य इन्हें इस रूपमें नहीं जानते हैं। श्रेष्ठ पुरुषोंका कथन है कि विधाताने सम्पूर्ण भूतोंके ललाटमें कर्मके अनुसार रेखा खींच दी है (प्रारब्धके अनुसार उनकी आयु और सुख-दुःखके भोग नियत कर दिये हैं) ।। रथ: शरीर भूतानां सत्त्वमाहुस्तु सारथिम् । इन्द्रियाणि हयानाहु: कर्मबुद्धिस्तु रश्मय:
rathaḥ śarīra-bhūtānāṃ sattvam āhus tu sārathim | indriyāṇi hayān āhuḥ karma-buddhis tu raśmayaḥ ||
Vidura says: The body is like a chariot; the inner clarity and steadiness (sattva) is declared to be its charioteer. The senses are the horses, and the discerning intelligence that directs action (karma-buddhi) is the reins. Thus, a person’s life is carried forward by time and destiny, yet it is steered—toward restraint or ruin—by how one governs the senses through right understanding and disciplined choice.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Human life is compared to a chariot: the senses pull strongly like horses, but they can be guided if one has sattva (inner clarity) as the charioteer and karma-buddhi (discerning intelligence in action) as the reins. Ethical living depends on disciplined governance of the senses through right understanding.
In the Strī Parva’s atmosphere of grief and reflection after the war, Vidura offers moral instruction. He frames embodied existence through a vivid metaphor to explain how people are driven by sensory impulses unless guided by inner steadiness and wise judgment, aligning conduct with dharma.