Shloka 31
कालचक्रं च साक्षाच्च भगवान् हव्यवाहन:ः । नरा दुष्कृतकर्माणो दक्षिणायनमृत्यव:,अगस्त्य, मतंग, काल, मृत्यु, यज्ञकर्ता, सिद्ध, योगशरीरधारी, अग्निष्वात्त पितर, फेनप, ऊष्मप, स्वधावान्, बर्हिषद् तथा दूसरे मूर्तिमान् पितर, साक्षात् कालचक्र (संवत्सर आदि कालविभागके अभिमानी देवता), भगवान् हव्यवाहन (अग्नि), दक्षिणायनमें मरनेवाले तथा सकामभावसे दुष्कर (श्रमसाध्य) कर्म करनेवाले मनुष्य, जनेश्वर कालकी अआज्ञामें तत्पर यमदूत, शिंशप एवं पलाश, काश और कुश आदिके अभिमानी देवता मूर्तिमान् होकर उस सभामें धर्मराजकी उपासना करते हैं
kālacakraṃ ca sākṣāc ca bhagavān havyavāhanaḥ | narā duṣkṛtakarmāṇo dakṣiṇāyanamṛtyavaḥ ||
Nārada said: “There too are seen, embodied and present, the very Wheel of Time itself and the divine Havyavāhana (Agni). Also present are those men who die in the season of the southern course (dakṣiṇāyana) and those who, driven by desire, perform arduous deeds that are ethically tainted. All these, under the ordinance of Time, attend upon Dharmarāja in his assembly.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames moral causality within cosmic governance: Time (kāla) and Fire (Agni, witness of sacrifice) stand as powers that oversee and reveal karma, while Dharmarāja embodies judgment aligned with that order. Human actions—especially desire-driven, ethically compromised deeds—are not isolated; they fall under the ordinance of Time and Dharma.
Nārada is describing the beings present in Dharmarāja’s assembly. Among them are personified cosmic principles (the Wheel of Time), deities (Agni), and categories of humans marked by the manner/season of death and by their karmic profile, all depicted as attending upon Dharmarāja.