Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 93

Devanagari script

काल प्राप्प महाबाहो न कश्िदतिवर्तते । “महाबाहो! मैं एक दिन ग्यारह अक्षौहिणी सेनाका स्वामी था; परंतु आज इस दशामें आ पड़ा हूँ। वास्तवमें कालको पाकर कोई उसका उल्लंघन नहीं कर सकता

Transliteration

kālaṃ prāpya mahābāho na kaścid ativartate |

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „O du Mächtigarmiger: Wenn die Zeit (Kāla) gekommen ist, vermag niemand sie zu überschreiten. Selbst wer einst elf Akṣauhiṇīs befehligte, kann in diesen Zustand geraten; denn wahrlich, niemand kann den Spruch der Zeit übertreten.“

Word by Word

• कालम्: time, fate
• कालम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• प्राप्य: having reached/obtained
• प्राप्य: Karana
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-आप्
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral for gerund)

• महाबाहो: O mighty-armed one
• महाबाहो: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाबाहु
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• कश्चित्: anyone, someone
• कश्चित्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: कश्चित् (क + चित्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अतिवर्तते: oversteps, transgresses
• Type: Verb
• Root: अति-वृत्
• Form: Lat (Present), Atmanepada, Third, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kāla (Time/Fate)
• akṣauhiṇī (army unit; implied via the Hindi gloss)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the inevitability of Kāla (Time/fate): when its moment arrives, no human power, status, or military strength can override it. It urges humility and recognition of limits within dharma and worldly ambition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating the war’s grim outcome, underscores to his listener that catastrophic reversals—such as a former lord of vast armies falling into ruin—occur because Time has turned. The line frames the unfolding defeat as part of an inescapable cosmic order.