me
all this! We shall then exert ourselves properly for him. My compassion
has been greatly moved by the difficulties that lie in the way of his
rescue!'

"Vidura said, 'They that are conversant, O monarch, with the religion of
moksha cite this as a simile. Understanding this properly, a person may
attain to bliss in the regions hereafter. That which is described as the
wilderness is the great world. The inaccessible forest within it is the
limited sphere of one's own life. Those that have been mentioned as beasts
of prey are the diseases (to which we are subject). That woman of
gigantic proportions residing in the forest is identified by the wise
with Decrepitude which destroys complexion and beauty. That which has
been spoken of as the pit is the body or physical frame of embodied
creatures. The huge snake dwelling in the bottom of that pit is time, the
destroyer of all embodied creatures. It is, indeed, the universal
destroyer. The cluster of creepers growing in that pit and attached to
whose spreading stems the man hangeth down is the desire for life which
is cherished by every creature. The six-faced elephant, O king, which
proceeds towards the tree standing at the mouth of the pit is spoken of
as the year. Its six faces are the seasons and its twelve feet are the
twelve months. The rats and the snakes that are cutting off the tree are
said to be days and nights that are continually lessening the periods of
life of all creatures. Those that have been described as bees are our
desires. The numerous jets that are dropping honey are the pleasures
derived from the gratification of our desires and to which men are seen
to be strongly addicted. The wise know life's course to be even such.
Through that knowledge they succeed in tearing off its bonds.'"

7

"Dhritarashtra said, 'Excellent is this parable that thou hast recited!
Indeed, thou art acquainted with truth! Having listened to thy nectarlike
speech, I desire to hear thee more.'

"Vidura said, 'Listen to me, O king, I shall once more discourse in detail
on those means an acquaintance with which enable the wise to free
themselves from the ties of the world. As a person, O king, who has to
travel a long way is sometimes obliged to halt when fatigued with toil,
even so, O Bharata, they that are of little intelligence, travelling
along the extended way of life, have to make frequent halts in the shape
of repeated births in the womb. They, however, that are wis