Mahabharata 11.4.11 — Stree Parva, Adhyaya 4, 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
yamadūtair viṅkṛṣyaṁś ca mṛtyuṁ kālena gacchati | vāg-hīnasya ca yan-mātram iṣṭāniṣṭaṁ kṛtaṁ mukhe | bhūya evātmanātmānaṁ badhyamānam upekṣate |
यमदूतैर्विकृष्यंश्च मृत्युं कालेन गच्छति। वाग्घीनस्य च यन्मात्रमिष्टानिष्टं कृतं मुखे॥ भूय एवात्मना आत्मानं कर्मबन्धेन बध्यमानमुपेक्षते॥
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.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.