Shloka 11
Cavana’s Tests of Kuśika and the Queen (अध्याय ५३: च्यवन–कुशिक-परिक्षा)
वे जलचर जीवोंके बड़े प्रिय हो गये थे। जल-जन्तु प्रसन्नचित्त होकर उनका ओठ सूँघा करते थे ।। तत्र तस्यासत: काल: समतीतो5भवन्महान् । ततः कदाचित् समये कसम्मिंश्वचिन्मत्स्यजीविन:
tatra tasyāsataḥ kālaḥ samatīto ’bhavan mahān | tataḥ kadācit samaye kasmiṁś cid matsyajīvinaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “He became dear to those water-dwelling creatures; with glad hearts the water-beings would smell his lips. While he remained there, a long time passed. Then, at a certain time, some fishermen happened to come there.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of time’s passage (kāla) and how circumstances change: even in a peaceful setting, new agents (here, fishermen) arrive, prompting fresh ethical and practical considerations.
After the subject has stayed there for a long period, the story advances as some fishermen arrive at a particular time, setting up the next development in the episode.