Ramayana — Ayodhya Kanda, Sarga 105, Shloka 20
भरतस्य प्रार्थना—रामस्य कालधर्मोपदेशः
Bharata’s Petition and Rama’s Instruction on Time and Mortality
अहोरात्राणि गच्छन्ति सर्वेषां प्राणिनामिह।अायूंषि क्षपयन्त्याशु ग्रीष्मे जलमिवांशवः।।2.105.20।।
ahorātrāṇi gacchanti sarveṣāṃ prāṇinām iha | āyūṃṣi kṣapayanty āśu grīṣme jalam ivāṃśavaḥ ||2.105.20||
昼夜为此间一切众生流逝，迅速消磨其寿命——如盛夏日光之芒，顷刻蒸干水分。
The passing days and nights quickly decrease the life span of all living beings in this world, like sunrays drying up the water in summer.
FAQs
It calls for purposeful living: since life is steadily consumed by time, dharma is to prioritize truth, duty, and self-mastery over wasteful grief.
A reflective teaching on time’s erosive power is offered to reframe sorrow within the inevitability of mortality.
Kāla-jñāna (awareness of time): using limited life for righteous ends.