Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 93
काल प्राप्प महाबाहो न कश्िदतिवर्तते । “महाबाहो! मैं एक दिन ग्यारह अक्षौहिणी सेनाका स्वामी था; परंतु आज इस दशामें आ पड़ा हूँ। वास्तवमें कालको पाकर कोई उसका उल्लंघन नहीं कर सकता
kālaṃ prāpya mahābāho na kaścid ativartate |
Sañjaya said: “O mighty-armed one, when Time has arrived, no one can pass beyond it. Even one who once commanded eleven akṣauhiṇīs can be brought to this condition; for truly, none can transgress the decree of Time.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the inevitability of Kāla (Time/fate): when its moment arrives, no human power, status, or military strength can override it. It urges humility and recognition of limits within dharma and worldly ambition.
Sañjaya, narrating the war’s grim outcome, underscores to his listener that catastrophic reversals—such as a former lord of vast armies falling into ruin—occur because Time has turned. The line frames the unfolding defeat as part of an inescapable cosmic order.