Shloka 65
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
मृत्युरुवाच विवशौ कालवशगावावां निर्दिष्टकारिणौ । नावां दोषेण गन्तव्यौ यदि सम्यक् प्रपश्यसि
mṛtyur uvāca vivaśau kālavaśagāvāvāṃ nirdiṣṭakāriṇau | nāvāṃ doṣeṇa gantavyau yadi samyak prapaśyasi ||
Death said: “We are helpless, driven by Time (Kāla), and we act only as we are appointed to act. If you see clearly, you should not lay blame on us as though it were our fault.”
लुब्धक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Death as an instrument of Kāla (Time): beings who carry out ordained functions should not be blamed as independent moral agents. It points to discerning the deeper causal order—kāla/niyati and karma—behind events, encouraging clarity and restraint in assigning personal blame.
In dialogue, Death speaks in self-defense, asserting that it acts under the compulsion of Time and according to what is appointed. The statement redirects the listener from anger at the immediate agent (Death) toward understanding the larger cosmic governance of events.