Shloka 25

Aṣṭāvakra–Bandi Vāda at Janaka’s Assembly

Numerical Cosmology and Restitution

Devanagari script

अद्टावक्र उवाच चतुर्विशतिपर्व त्वां षण्नाभि द्वादशप्रधि । तत्‌ त्रिषष्टिशतारं वै चक्र पातु सदागति,अष्टावक्र बोले--राजन्‌! जिसमें बारह अमावास्या और बारह पूर्णिमारूपी चौबीस पर्व, ऋतुरूप छ: नाभि, मासरूप बारह अंश और दिनरूप तीन सौ साठ अरे हैं, वह निरन्तर घूमनेवाला संवत्सररूप कालचक्र आपकी रक्षा करे

Transliteration

aṣṭāvakra uvāca | caturviṁśatiparva tvāṁ ṣaṇnābhi dvādaśapradhi | tat triṣaṣṭiśatāraṁ vai cakraṁ pātu sadā gatiḥ ||

Translation

Aṣṭāvakra said: “O King, may the ever-moving wheel of Time—manifest as the year—protect you: it has twenty-four joints in the form of the twelve new-moon and twelve full-moon days, six hubs as the seasons, twelve rims/segments as the months, and three hundred and sixty spokes as the days.”

Word by Word

{'aṣṭāvakra uvāca''Aṣṭāvakra said', 'rājan (implied)': 'O king', 'caturviṁśati-parva': 'having twenty-four ‘joints/sections’ (parvan)

here, the lunar half-month markers (new/full moons)', 'parvan''joint, node, division

also a sacred calendrical point', 'ṣaṇ-nābhi''having six hubs/navels

here, the six seasons (ṛtu)', 'nābhi''navel, hub (of a wheel)', 'dvādaśa-pradhi': 'having twelve felly-sections/rims

here, the twelve months', 'pradhi''rim, felly, circumference-part of a wheel', 'triṣaṣṭi-śata-ara': 'having three hundred and sixty spokes', 'ara': 'spoke (of a wheel)', 'cakra': 'wheel

here, the wheel of Time/the year', 'pātu''may it protect', 'sadā': 'always', 'gatiḥ': 'movement, course

Speaker

अद्टावक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

Aṣṭāvakra

King (rājan, addressed)

kāla-cakra (wheel of Time)

saṁvatsara (the year, implied)

amāvāsyā (new moon, implied by explanation)

pūrṇimā (full moon, implied by explanation)

Ṛ

ṛtu (seasons, implied by explanation)

māsa (months, implied by explanation)

days (as 360 spokes, implied by explanation)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Time (kāla), structured as the orderly cycle of the year, is portrayed as a cosmic wheel whose regular divisions (lunar markers, seasons, months, days) sustain and govern life. The verse frames this order as protective when one lives in harmony with it—an ethical reminder of discipline, measure, and alignment with dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Aṣṭāvakra addresses a king with a benediction. Using the metaphor of a wheel, he describes the year as a moving ‘time-wheel’ composed of calendrical parts and invokes it as a protective force over the king.