Shloka 10

Devanagari script

स यस्तु कूपवीनाहे तं॑ वृक्ष परिसर्पति । षड्वक्‍त्र: कुज्जरो राजन्‌ स तु संवत्सर: स्मृत:,राजन! जो कुएँके मुखबन्धके समीप छ: मुखों-वाला हाथी उस वृक्षकी ओर बढ़ रहा है, उसे संवत्सर माना गया है

Transliteration

sa yastu kūpavīn01he ta vka pariarpati | avaktra kujjaro r01jan sa tu savatsara smta |

Translation

രാജാവേ! കിണറ്റിന്റെ വായ്മൂടിനടുത്ത് ആ വൃക്ഷത്തേയ്ക്ക് നീങ്ങുന്ന ആ ആറുമുഖമുള്ള ആന—അതിനെ ‘സംവത്സരം’ (വർഷം) എന്നു കരുതുന്നു.

Word by Word

सःhe/that (one)

यःwho

तुbut/indeed

कूप-वीणाहेat/near the well’s mouth-binding (cover/fastening)

तम्him/that (one)

वृक्षम्tree

परिसर्पतिmoves/creeps towards, approaches

षड्-वक्त्रःsix-faced (having six mouths)

कुञ्जरःelephant

राजन्O king

सःthat (one)

तुindeed/but

संवत्सरःyear

स्मृतःis considered/remembered (as)

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vidura

King (Dhtar01ra, implied addressee)

well (k6bpa)

tree (vka)

six-faced elephant (allegory for the year)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Time (the year) relentlessly advances; recognizing its inevitability is meant to awaken urgency for dharmic living, restraint, and wise priorities amid suffering and uncertainty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vidura continues an allegorical description: a ‘six-faced elephant’ moving toward a tree near the well’s mouth-covering is identified as the ‘year,’ a symbolic element in a larger metaphor about life, danger, and the steady approach of time.