Shloka 67
अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
केचिन्नागशतप्राणा: केचित् सर्वास्त्रकोविदा: । निहता: पाण्डवेयैस्ते मन््ये कालस्य पर्ययम्
kecin nāgaśatapraṇāḥ kecit sarvāstrakovidāḥ | nihatāḥ pāṇḍaveyais te manye kālasya paryayam ||
Sañjaya said: “Some among them had the strength of a hundred elephants; others were masters in the use of every weapon. Yet they were slain by the sons of Pāṇḍu. I take this to be nothing but the turning of Time—an overturning brought about by destiny rather than mere human prowess.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even extraordinary strength and complete martial expertise can be overturned by Kāla—the larger, impersonal force of Time and destiny. The verse frames victory and defeat as subject to cosmic reversal, tempering pride in power and highlighting the fragility of human achievement in war.
Sañjaya reflects on the battlefield outcome: warriors of immense might and great weapons-skill were nevertheless killed by the Pāṇḍavas. He interprets this surprising fall of the powerful as a ‘turning of Time’ (kālasya paryaya), implying that events have moved according to fate’s reversal rather than predictable human calculation.