पितृभ्रातृसुहृत्पुत्रा हतास्ते विगतं वयम् ।
आत्मा च जरया ग्रस्तः परगेहमुपाससे ॥२१॥

pitá¹›-bhrÄtá¹›-suhá¹›t-putrÄ
hatÄs te vigataá¹ vayam
ÄtmÄ ca jarayÄ grastaḥ
para-geham upÄsase

 pitá¹› - father; bhrÄtá¹› - brother; suhá¹›t - well-wishers; putrÄḥ - sons; hatÄḥ - all dead; te - yours; vigatam - expended; vayam - age; ÄtmÄ - the body; ca - also; jarayÄ - by invalidity; grastaḥ - overcome; para-geham - another's home; upÄsase - you do live.


Text

Your father, brother, well-wishers and sons are all dead and passed away. You yourself have expended the major portion of your life, your body is now overtaken by invalidity, and you are living in the home of another.

Purport

The King is reminded of his precarious condition, influenced by cruel time, and by his past experience he should have been more intelligent to see what was going to happen to his own life. His father, VicitravÄ«rya, died long ago, when he and his younger brothers were all little children, and it was due to the care and kindness of BhÄ«á¹£madeva that they were properly brought up. Then again his brother PÄṇá¸u died also. Then in the Battlefield of Kuruká¹£etra his one hundred sons and his grandsons all died, along with all other well-wishers like BhÄ«á¹£madeva, DroṇÄcÄrya, Karṇa and many other kings and friends. So he had lost all men and money, and now he was living at the mercy of his nephew, whom he had put into troubles of various types. And despite all these reverses, he thought that he would prolong his life more and more. Vidura wanted to point out to Dhá¹›tarÄṣṭra that everyone has to protect himself by his action and the grace of the Lord. One has to execute his duty faithfully, depending for the result on the supreme authority. No friend, no children, no father, no brother, no state and no one else can protect a person who is not protected by the Supreme Lord. One should, therefore, seek the protection of the Supreme Lord, for the human form of life is meant for seeking that protection. Dhá¹›tarÄṣṭra was warned of his precarious conditions more and more by the following words.