Shloka 11

Devanagari script

कालचक्रप्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं चैव तत्त्वतः । यस्तु वेद नरो नित्यं न स भूतेषु मुह्ृति,जो मनुष्य इस देहमय कालचक्रकी प्रवृत्ति और निवृत्तिको सदा अच्छी तरह जानता है, वह कभी मोहमें नहीं पड़ता

Transliteration

kālacakrapravṛttiṃ ca nivṛttiṃ caiva tattvataḥ | yastu veda naro nityaṃ na sa bhūteṣu muhyati ||

Translation

உடலோடு இயங்கும் காலச்சக்கரத்தின் முன்னோக்குச் சுழற்சியும் பின்னோக்குத் திரும்புதலும்—இரண்டையும் தத்துவமாக எப்போதும் அறிந்தவன், உயிர்களிடையே மயக்கத்தில் விழுவதில்லை.

Word by Word

कालचक्रप्रवृत्तिम्the activity/forward course of the wheel of time

चand

निवृत्तिम्cessation/withdrawal (reverse course)

चand

एवindeed/just

तत्त्वतःin truth; as it really is

यःwho

तुbut/indeed

वेदknows

नरःa man

नित्यम्always

नnot

सःhe

भूतेषुamong beings; in creatures

मुह्यतिis deluded; becomes confused

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

kālacakra (wheel of time)

bhūta (living beings)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True clarity comes from understanding time’s cyclical operation in embodied life—its movement into activity (pravṛtti) and its return/cessation (nivṛtti). One who sees both as they really are does not become confused by changing conditions, gains and losses, or the shifting fortunes of beings.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is instructing the listener with a concise philosophical maxim. He frames a criterion for freedom from delusion: steady insight into the ‘wheel of time’ that governs embodied existence, especially the twin paths of engagement in the world and withdrawal from it.