Shloka 19
Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)
कर्मसूत्रात्मकं विद्धि साक्षिणं शुभपापयो: । सुखदुःखगुणोदर्क कालं॑ कालफलप्रदम्
karmasūtrātmakaṃ viddhi sākṣiṇaṃ śubhapāpayoḥ | sukhaduḥkhaguṇodarkaṃ kālaṃ kālaphalapradam ||
قال فياسا: اعلم أن الزمن (كالا Kāla) منسوجٌ من خيط الكارما، وهو الشاهد على البرّ والإثم معًا. ومنه تنشأ، في أوانها، العواقبُ المتشكّلةُ سعادةً وشقاءً؛ وهو الزمن الذي يمنح الكائنات، في الموسم اللائق، ثمارَ الأفعال.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time (Kāla) functions as the impartial witness and regulator of karmic causality: it connects actions to their outcomes and delivers the fruits—pleasant or painful—when the proper conditions and season mature.
In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs the king (rājan) about the principle of Kāla: how merit and sin are observed, how happiness and suffering arise as consequences, and how results are dispensed in due course.