Shloka 40
Bhīṣma’s Yogic Departure, Royal Cremation, and Gaṅgā’s Lament (भीष्मस्य योगयुक्त्या देहत्यागः, पितृमेधः, गङ्गाविलापः)
न हि कालेन कालज्ञ: स्पृष्ट: शोचितुमर्हसि । कालो लोहितरक्ताक्ष: कृष्णो दण्डी सनातन:,जो कालके स्वरूपको जानता है, वह कालके थपेड़े खाकर भी शोक नहीं करता। श्रीकृष्ण ही लाल नेत्रोंवाले दण्डधारी सनातन काल हैं
na hi kālena kālajñaḥ spṛṣṭaḥ śocitum arhasi | kālo lohita-raktākṣaḥ kṛṣṇo daṇḍī sanātanaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “One who truly understands Time should not grieve, even when struck by Time’s blows. For Time is the eternal, rod-bearing Kṛṣṇa, with blood-red eyes.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that insight into the nature of Kāla (Time as an irresistible cosmic power) dissolves excessive grief: one who understands Time’s governance should not lament when adversity arrives, because events unfold under an eternal moral-cosmic order.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right understanding after the war. Here he consoles and corrects the listener’s sorrow by framing suffering as the impact of Kāla, and by identifying Kāla with Kṛṣṇa as the eternal wielder of daṇḍa (cosmic discipline).