Bhagavad Gita — Vishwarupa Darshana Yoga, Shloka 32

Vishwarupa Darshana Yoga

Devanagari script

श्रीभगवानुवाच । कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः । ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वे येऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः ॥

Transliteration

śrībhagavān uvāca | kālo ’smi lokakṣayakṛt pravṛddho lokān samāhartum iha pravṛttaḥ | ṛte ’pi tvāṁ na bhaviṣyanti sarve ye ’vasthitāḥ pratyanīkeṣu yodhāḥ ||

Translation

Der Erhabene sprach: „Ich bin die Zeit (Kāla), mächtig herangewachsen, die den Untergang der Welten bewirkt; hier bin Ich hervorgetreten, um die Welten einzuziehen (zu vernichten). Auch ohne dich werden all diese Krieger, die in den Reihen des feindlichen Heeres stehen, nicht bestehen bleiben.“

Gita Press Meaning

भगवान बोले: मैं लोकों का क्षय करने वाला, अत्यन्त बढ़ा हुआ काल हूँ; यहाँ लोकों का संहार करने को प्रवृत्त हूँ। तुम्हारे बिना भी ये सब योद्धा जो विरोधी सेना में स्थित हैं, नहीं रहेंगे।

Critical Edition Meaning

The Blessed Lord said: I am Time, grown mighty, bringing about the dissolution of worlds; I have set forth here to gather up (draw in) the worlds. Even without you, all these warriors arrayed in the opposing ranks will not continue (to be).

Comparative Note

Some traditions gloss kāla as 'death' or 'fate'; academically, 'Time' preserves the cosmological sense: an impersonal principle that encompasses both historical events and metaphysical impermanence.

Word by Word

• श्रीभगवान्: the Blessed Lord
• श्रीभगवान्: Karta
• Root: श्रीभगवत्

• उवाच: said
• Root: √वच्

• कालः: Time
• कालः: Karta
• Root: काल

• अस्मि: I am
• Root: √अस्

• लोकक्षयकृत्: the maker of the destruction of worlds
• लोकक्षयकृत्: Karta
• Root: लोकक्षयकृत्

• प्रवृद्धः: fully grown, greatly intensified
• प्रवृद्धः: Karta
• Root: प्रवृद्ध

• लोकान्: worlds / people
• लोकान्: Karma
• Root: लोक

• समाहर्तुम्: to gather up, to withdraw/destroy
• Root: सम्-आ-√हृ

• इह: here (in this context/field)
• इह: Adhikarana
• Root: इह

• प्रवृत्तः: engaged, set in motion
• प्रवृत्तः: Karta
• Root: प्रवृत्त

• ऋते: without, except (for)
• Root: ऋते

• अपि: even, also
• Root: अपि

• त्वाम्: you
• Root: युष्मद्

• न: not
• Root: न

• भविष्यन्ति: will be / will remain alive
• Root: √भू

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Root: सर्व

• ये: who
• Root: यद्

• अवस्थिताः: standing, stationed
• Root: अवस्थित

• प्रत्यनीकेषु: in the opposing armies/battle-formations
• प्रत्यनीकेषु: Adhikarana
• Root: प्रत्यनीक

• योधाः: warriors
• योधाः: Karta
• Root: योध

Speakers

• Krishna

Primary Concepts

• Kāla (Time)
• Niyati (necessity/order)
• Karma (causal nexus)
• Īśvara (cosmic sovereignty)

Key Themes

• Inevitability within history
• Divine perspective on outcomes
• Human agency within larger order

FAQs

Psychological significance?

The statement can be unsettling because it confronts the mind with inevitability; it also reduces personal burden by reframing outcomes as part of a larger process.

Metaphysical meaning?

Time is presented as a cosmic function of the divine—an ordering power through which forms arise and pass—linking the battlefield narrative to universal impermanence.

Contextual relevance?

Krishna answers Arjuna’s question about the formidable form by identifying it with kāla, aligning the imminent historical outcome with the cosmic vision.

Modern Application?

It can encourage focusing on ethical intention and disciplined action while acknowledging that many results are shaped by factors beyond individual control.