Shloka 21

Devanagari script

सर्ग: कालो धृतिर्वेदा: कर्ता कार्य क्रियाफलम्‌ । एतत्‌ ते कथितं तात यन्मां त्वं परिपृच्छसि,तात! तुमने मुझसे जो कुछ पूछा था, उसके अनुसार मैंने तुम्हारे समक्ष सर्ग, काल, धारणा, वेद, कर्ता, कार्य और क्रियाफलके विषयमें ये सब बातें कही हैं

Transliteration

sargaḥ kālo dhṛtir vedāḥ kartā kārya-kriyā-phalam | etat te kathitaṃ tāta yan māṃ tvaṃ paripṛcchasi ||

Translation

Vyāsa sprach: „Mein liebes Kind, wie du mich gefragt hast, habe ich dir nun dargelegt: sarga (Schöpfung und Hervorgang), kāla (die Zeit), dhṛti (die Festigkeit, welche die Ordnung trägt), die Veden, den kartā (den Handelnden), das kārya (das zu vollbringende Werk) und das kriyā-phala (die Frucht der Handlung).“

Word by Word

सर्गःcreation, emanation

कालःtime

धृतिःsteadfastness, resolve

वेदाःthe Vedas

कर्ताdoer, agent

कार्यthat which is to be done; task/effect

क्रियाफलम्fruit/result of action

एतत्this (all this)

तेto you

कथितम्told, explained

तातdear son

यत्which, what

माम्me

त्वम्you

परिपृच्छसिyou ask, inquire

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

व

व्यास (Vyāsa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse summarizes a framework for ethical and metaphysical understanding: actions (kriyā) arise from an agent (kartā) directed toward a duty or task (kārya), and they yield results (phala), all within the larger realities of creation (sarga), time (kāla), sustaining steadiness/order (dhṛti), and Vedic knowledge (vedāḥ).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa concludes a response to a disciple’s inquiry by listing the principal topics he has covered, signaling that the requested explanation—about the structure of the world and the logic of action and consequence—has been completed.