Shloka 23
उद्योगपर्व (अध्याय १२९) — केशवस्य वैभवप्रदर्शनम् / Krishna’s Theophanic Display in the Kuru Assembly
(यथा वाराणसी दग्धा साश्वा सरथकुंजरा । सानुबन्धस्तु कृष्णेन काशीनामृषभो हतः ।।
yathā vārāṇasī dagdhā sāśvā sarathakuñjarā | sānubandhas tu kṛṣṇena kāśīnām ṛṣabho hataḥ || tathā nāgapuraṃ dagdhvā śaṅkhacakragadādharaḥ | svayaṃ kāleśvaro bhūtvā nāśayiṣyati kauravān ||
যেনে শ্ৰীকৃষ্ণে অশ্ব-ৰথ-গজসহ বাৰাণসী নগৰী দগ্ধ কৰিছিল আৰু কাশীৰ বৃষভসম ৰজাক তেওঁৰ আত্মীয়-স্বজনসহ সংহাৰ কৰিছিল, তেনেদৰে শঙ্খ-চক্ৰ-গদাধাৰী সেই ভগৱান স্বয়ং কালেশ্বৰ হৈ নাগপুৰ (হস্তিনাপুৰ) দগ্ধ কৰি কৌৰৱসকলক বিনাশ কৰিব।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Kṛṣṇa as the instrument of dharma and the embodiment of Kāla (Time): when wrongdoing ripens, even powerful dynasties fall. Ethical accountability is presented as inevitable—delayed by patience, but not cancelled.
A warning is voiced through Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration: recalling Kṛṣṇa’s earlier destruction of Vārāṇasī and the slaying of the Kāśī ruler with his supporters, it predicts a similar fate for the Kauravas—Hastināpura will be consumed and their power ended when Kṛṣṇa assumes the role of Kāla.