Shloka 51
अधरोत्तरमेतद् वा लोकानां वा पराभव: । यदिमौ जीवत: कृष्णौ कालो हि दुरतिक्रम:,“इस (आग्नेय) अस्त्रके प्रभावमें कोई उलट-फेर तो नहीं हो गया अथवा सम्पूर्ण लोकोंका पराभव होनेवाला है, जिससे ये दोनों कृष्ण जीवित बच गये। निश्चय ही कालका उल्लंघन करना अत्यन्त कठिन है
sañjaya uvāca | adharottaram etad vā lokānāṃ vā parābhavaḥ | yad imau jīvataḥ kṛṣṇau kālo hi duratikramaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “Has some reversal occurred in the working of this (Agneya) weapon, or is it that the very worlds are destined for defeat—since these two ‘Kṛṣṇas’ have survived alive? For Time indeed is exceedingly hard to overstep.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethic that human power—including the most fearsome weapons—operates within the larger sovereignty of Kāla (Time/Fate). When outcomes defy expectation, the narrative points to an overriding cosmic order that is difficult to transgress.
Sañjaya, reporting events, expresses astonishment that the Agneya weapon has not destroyed the intended targets: the two ‘Kṛṣṇas’ (commonly Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna). He wonders whether the weapon’s effect has been reversed or whether a world-shaking destiny is at play, concluding that Kāla is not easily overcome.