Shloka 3

Vidurā–Putra Saṃvāda: Utsāha, Kīrti, and Kṣātra Resolve

Udyoga-parva 131

Devanagari script

कालपक्वमिदं सर्व सुयोधनवशानुगम्‌ । आपूृच्छे भवतीं शीघ्र प्रयास्ये पाण्डवान्‌ प्रति,जान पड़ता है, दुर्योधनके वशमें होकर उसीके पीछे चलनेवाला यह सारा क्षत्रियसमुदाय कालसे परिपक्व हो गया है। (अतः शीघ्र ही नष्ट होनेवाला है।) अब मैं तुमसे आज्ञा चाहता हूँ, यहाँसे शीघ्र ही पाण्डवोंके पास जाऊँगा

Transliteration

vāyudeva uvāca |

kālapakvam idaṃ sarvaṃ suyodhanavaśānugam |

āpṛcche bhavatīṃ śīghraṃ prayāsye pāṇḍavān prati ||

Translation

Vāyu sagte: „Dieses ganze Heer, unter Suyodhanas Gewalt geraten und seinem Willen folgend, ist durch die Macht der Zeit für sein bestimmtes Ende herangereift. Darum nehme ich Abschied; ich breche sogleich auf und gehe zu den Pāṇḍavas.“

Word by Word

• {'kāla': 'Time

• fate as an impersonal cosmic force', 'pakva': 'ripe

• matured to an inevitable outcome', 'kālapakvam': 'made ripe by Time

• brought to the point of unavoidable fruition (often destruction)', 'idaṃ sarvam': 'all this

• the entire situation/host here', 'Suyodhana': 'an epithet of Duryodhana', 'vaśa': 'control, domination, sway', 'vaśānugam': 'submissive to another’s control

• acting under someone’s sway', 'āpṛcche': 'I ask leave

• I take permission to depart', 'bhavatīm': 'you (honorific feminine accusative)

• addressed respectfully', 'śīghram': 'quickly, at once', 'prayāsye': 'I shall go forth

• I will depart', 'pāṇḍavān prati': 'toward the Pāṇḍavas

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva
• Suyodhana (Duryodhana)
• Pāṇḍavas
• Kāla (Time)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When a community submits to unrighteous leadership and abandons discernment, its downfall becomes ‘ripe’ through Kāla—Time as the moral-cosmic force that brings consequences to fruition. The verse frames impending destruction not as random, but as the matured result of sustained adharma and misguided allegiance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva declares that the Kṣatriya host aligned with Duryodhana has reached an inevitable end, then respectfully asks leave from the person addressed (bhavatī) and announces his immediate departure to go to the Pāṇḍavas.