Shloka 833
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
वधबन्धप्रमोक्षं च सर्व कालेन लभ्यते । पुरुषको लाभ-हानि, सुख-दुःख, काम-क्रोध, अभ्युदयपराभव, वध, कैद और कैदसे छुटकारा--यह सब काल (प्रारब्ध) से ही प्राप्त होते हैं
vadhabandhapramokṣaṃ ca sarvaṃ kālena labhyate | puruṣako lābha-hāniḥ sukha-duḥkhaṃ kāma-krodhaḥ abhyudaya-parābhavaḥ vadhaḥ kaidā ca kaidase chūṭkārā—idaṃ sarvaṃ kālāt (prārabdhāt) eva prāpyate |
Bhishma sprach: „Tötung, Gefangenschaft und Befreiung aus den Fesseln—wahrlich, all solche Ergebnisse werden durch die Zeit erlangt. Gewinn und Verlust, Lust und Schmerz, Begehren und Zorn, Aufstieg und Fall, Tod, Kerker und Freiheit aus dem Kerker—alles kommt dem Menschen durch das Wirken der Zeit (des gereiften Geschicks).“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that the major turns of worldly life—success and failure, joy and sorrow, even captivity and release—are governed by Kāla (Time), understood as the fruition of prārabdha-karma. The ethical implication is to cultivate steadiness and non-attachment while still acting rightly.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhishthira, Bhishma continues a discourse on the forces that shape human experience. Here he emphasizes the sovereignty of Time over events, framing personal fortunes and misfortunes as outcomes of destiny rather than mere human control.