Shloka 23
(यथा वाराणसी दग्धा साश्वा सरथकुंजरा । सानुबन्धस्तु कृष्णेन काशीनामृषभो हतः ।।
yathā vārāṇasī dagdhā sāśvā sarathakuñjarā | sānubandhas tu kṛṣṇena kāśīnām ṛṣabho hataḥ || tathā nāgapuraṃ dagdhvā śaṅkhacakragadādharaḥ | svayaṃ kāleśvaro bhūtvā nāśayiṣyati kauravān ||
Vaiśampāyana sagte: „So wie Kṛṣṇa einst die Stadt Vārāṇasī verbrannte—mitsamt ihren Pferden, Wagen und Elefanten—und den Stiergleichen Herrn von Kāśī samt Verwandten und Verbündeten erschlug, so wird auch dieser Träger von Muschel, Diskus und Keule, selbst zum Herrn der Zeit geworden, Hastināpura in Brand setzen und die Kauravas ins Verderben stürzen.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Kṛṣṇa as the instrument of dharma and the embodiment of Kāla (Time): when wrongdoing ripens, even powerful dynasties fall. Ethical accountability is presented as inevitable—delayed by patience, but not cancelled.
A warning is voiced through Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration: recalling Kṛṣṇa’s earlier destruction of Vārāṇasī and the slaying of the Kāśī ruler with his supporters, it predicts a similar fate for the Kauravas—Hastināpura will be consumed and their power ended when Kṛṣṇa assumes the role of Kāla.