11.006
Pancharatra-Ext: The allegory of the serpent, mice, well and wilderness explained.
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca॥
Dhritarashtra said:
aho khalu mahadduḥkhaṃ kṛcchravāsaṃ vasatyasau। kathaṃ tasya ratistatra tuṣṭirvā vadatāṃ vara ॥11-6-1॥
Ah, indeed, he lives in great suffering and difficult circumstances. How can he find pleasure or satisfaction there, O best of speakers?
sa deśaḥ kva nu yatrāsau vasate dharmasaṅkaṭe। kathaṃ vā sa vimucyeta naras tasmān mahābhayāt ॥11-6-2॥
Where is that country in which he dwells, in the difficulty of dharma? How could a man be freed from that great fear?
etan me sarvam ācakṣva sādhu ceṣṭāmahe tathā। kṛpā me mahatī jātā tasyābhyuddharaṇena hi ॥11-6-3॥
Tell me all this; let us act properly in this matter. Great compassion has arisen in me for him, indeed, by uplifting him.
vidura uvāca॥
Vidura said:
upamānam idaṃ rājan mokṣavidbhir udāhṛtam। sugatiṃ vindate yena paralokeṣu mānavaḥ ॥11-6-4॥
O king, this analogy has been given by the knowers of liberation; by following it, a person attains a good path in the next world.
yattad ucyati kāntāraṃ mahatsaṃsāra eva saḥ। vanaṃ durgaṃ hi yat t etat saṃsāragahanaṃ hi tat ॥11-6-5॥
What is referred to as a wilderness is truly the vast world of existence. The forest that is said to be difficult to cross is, in fact, this dense forest of worldly life.
ye ca te kathitā vyālā vyādhayas te prakīrtitāḥ। yā sā nārī bṛhatkāyā adhitiṣṭhati tatra vai ॥ tām āhus tu jarāṃ prājñā varṇarūpavināśinīm ॥11-6-6॥
These serpents and diseases have been described. The wise call that large-bodied woman who presides there as old age, the destroyer of color and form.
yas tatra kūpo nṛpate sa tu dehaḥ śarīriṇām। yas tatra vasate'dhastān mahāhiḥ kāla eva saḥ ॥ antakaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ dehināṃ sarvahāryasau ॥11-6-7॥
O king, the well there represents the body of living beings, and the great serpent dwelling below is Time itself. He is the destroyer of all beings, the taker of all embodied forms.
kūpamadhye ca yā jātā vallī yatra sa mānavaḥ। pratāne lambate sā tu jīvitāśā śarīriṇām ॥11-6-8॥
In the middle of the well, the creeper that has grown there is what the man hangs onto; that creeper is the hope of life for all living beings.
sa yastu kūpavīnāhe taṃ vṛkṣaṃ parisarpati। ṣaḍvaktraḥ kuñjaro rājans tu saṃvatsaraḥ smṛtaḥ ॥ mukhāni ṛtavo māsāḥ pādā dvādaśa kīrtitāḥ ॥11-6-9॥
O king, the year is described as an elephant with six faces (mouths as seasons), twelve feet (months), moving around the tree in the well and the lute. This is how it is said: (11-6-9)
ye tu vṛkṣaṃ nikṛntanti mūṣakāḥ satatotthitāḥ। rātryahāni tu tānyāhur bhūtānāṃ paricintakāḥ॥ ye te madhukarās tatra kāmās te parikīrtitāḥ॥11-6-10॥
Those who are always active in cutting down the tree are the mice; they are called the destroyers of beings, night and day. The bees there are said to be desires.
yāstu tā bahuśo dhārāḥ sravanti madhunisravam। tāṃstu kāmarasānvidyādyatra majjanti mānavāḥ ॥11-6-11॥
But know that those many streams which flow with honey-like essence are streams of pleasure, in which humans become immersed.
evaṃ saṃsāracakrasya parivṛttiṃ sma ye viduḥ। te vai saṃsāracakrasya pāśāṃś chindanti vai budhāḥ ॥11-6-12॥
Thus, the wise who truly understand the turning of the wheel of transmigration, indeed cut the bonds of that wheel.
