Shloka 19

Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)

Devanagari script

कर्मसूत्रात्मकं विद्धि साक्षिणं शुभपापयो: । सुखदुःखगुणोदर्क कालं॑ कालफलप्रदम्‌

Transliteration

karmasūtrātmakaṃ viddhi sākṣiṇaṃ śubhapāpayoḥ | sukhaduḥkhaguṇodarkaṃ kālaṃ kālaphalapradam ||

Translation

Vyāsa sprach: Wisse, dass die Zeit (Kāla) aus dem Faden des Karma gewoben ist, Zeugin sowohl des Guten als auch des Bösen. Aus ihr entstehen, zur rechten Frist, die Folgen in Gestalt von Glück und Leid; und die Zeit ist es, die den Wesen zur passenden Jahreszeit die Früchte ihrer Handlungen zuteilt.

Word by Word

• कर्मसूत्रात्मकम्: having the nature of the thread of karma
• कर्मसूत्रात्मकम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कर्मसूत्रात्मक
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• विद्धि: know (you)
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद्
• Form: Imperative, Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

• साक्षिणम्: witness
• साक्षिणम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: साक्षिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• शुभपापयोः: of good and evil (merit and sin)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शुभपाप
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Dual

• सुखदुःखगुणोदर्कम्: whose outcome is the qualities (effects) of pleasure and pain
• सुखदुःखगुणोदर्कम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुखदुःखगुणोदर्क
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

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

• कालफलप्रदम्: bestowing results in due time
• कालफलप्रदम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कालफलप्रद
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• Kāla (Time)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Time (Kāla) functions as the impartial witness and regulator of karmic causality: it connects actions to their outcomes and delivers the fruits—pleasant or painful—when the proper conditions and season mature.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs the king (rājan) about the principle of Kāla: how merit and sin are observed, how happiness and suffering arise as consequences, and how results are dispensed in due course.