Shloka 20
Jayadratha-rakṣā: Conch Signals and Encirclement of Arjuna
Chapter 79
नूनं गति: कृतान्तस्य प्राजैरपि सुदुर्विदा । यत्र त्वं केशवे नाथे संग्रामेडनाथवद्धत:,“निश्चय ही कालकी गति बड़े-बड़े विद्वानोंके लिये भी अत्यन्त दुर्बोध है, जिसके अधीन होकर तुम श्रीकृष्ण-जैसे संरक्षकके रहते हुए संग्रामभूमिमें अनाथकी भाँति मारे गये
nūnaṁ gatiḥ kṛtāntasya prājair api sudurvidā | yatra tvaṁ keśave nāthe saṅgrāme ’nāthavad dhataḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Truly, the course of Death (Time) is exceedingly hard to fathom—even for the wisest. For under its dominion, you were slain on the battlefield like one without protection, though Keśava himself stood as your lord and guardian.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inscrutability and inevitability of Kāla (Time/Death): even wisdom and powerful protection cannot fully avert what destiny brings. It invites humility about human control and highlights the tragic limits of worldly safeguards in war.
Sañjaya laments to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a warrior has been killed in battle despite having Kṛṣṇa (Keśava) as a protector. He attributes this shocking outcome to the unfathomable power of Kṛtānta—Death/Time—governing events on the battlefield.