तस्यापि तव देहोऽयं कृपणस्य जिजीविषोः ।
परैत्यनिच्छतो जीर्णो जरया वाससी इव ॥२५॥

tasyÄpi tava deho 'yaá¹
kṛpaṇasya jijīviṣoḥ
paraity anicchato jīrṇo
jarayÄ vÄsasÄ« iva

 tasya - of this; api - in spite of; tava - your; dehaḥ - body; ayam - this; ká¹›paṇasya - of one who is miserly; jijÄ«viá¹£oḥ - of you who desire life; paraiti - will dwindle; anicchataḥ - even unwilling; jÄ«rṇaḥ - deteriorated; jarayÄ - old; vÄsasÄ« - garments; iva - like.


Text

Despite your unwillingness to die and your desire to live even at the cost of honor and prestige, your miserly body will certainly dwindle and deteriorate like an old garment.

Purport

The words ká¹›paṇasya jijÄ«viá¹£oḥ are significant. There are two classes of men. One is called the ká¹›paṇa, and the other is called the brÄhmaṇa. The ká¹›paṇa, or the miserly man, has no estimation of his material body, but the brÄhmaṇa has a true estimation of himself and the material body. The ká¹›paṇa, having a wrong estimation of his material body, wants to enjoy sense gratification with his utmost strength, and even in old age he wants to become a young man by medical treatment or otherwise. Dhá¹›tarÄṣṭra is addressed herein as a ká¹›paṇa because without any estimation of his material body he wants to live at any cost. Vidura is trying to open his eyes to see that he cannot live more than his term and that he must prepare for death. Since death is inevitable, why should he accept such a humiliating position for living? It is better to take the right path, even at the risk of death. Human life is meant for finishing all kinds of miseries of material existence, and life should be so regulated that one can achieve the desired goal. Dhá¹›tarÄṣṭra, due to his wrong conception of life, had already spoiled eighty percent of his achieved energy, so it behooved him to utilize the remaining days of his miserly life for the ultimate good. Such a life is called miserly because one cannot properly utilize the assets of the human form of life. Only by good luck does such a miserly man meet a self-realized soul like Vidura and by his instruction gets rid of the nescience of material existence.