Shloka 1
कालनिर्णयः, युगधर्मवर्णनम्, सृष्टिक्रमश्च
Time-Reckoning, Yuga-Dharma, and the Sequence of Creation
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठके २ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ३२ श्लोक हैं) अपन प्रात बछ। अर: - शम्याक्षेप कहते हैं शम्यापातको। “शम्या” एक ऐसे काठके डंडेको कहते हैं, जिसका निचला भाग मोटा होता है। उसे जब कोई बलवान पुरुष उठाकर जोरसे फेंके, तब जितनी दूरीपर जाकर वह गिरे, उतने भूभागको एक “शम्यापात” कहते हैं। चतुर्विशर्त्याधेकद्विशततमो<ध्याय: बलि और इन्द्रका संवाद, बलिके द्वारा कालकी प्रबलताका प्रतिपादन करते हुए इन्द्रको फटकारना भीष्म उवाच पुनरेव तु तं शक्र: प्रहसन्निदमब्रवीत् । निःश्वसन्तं यथा नागं प्रव्याहाराय भारत,भीष्मजी कहते हैं--भारत! ऐसा कहकर सर्पके समान फुफकारते हुए बलिसे इन्द्रने पुनः अपना उत्कर्ष सूचित करनेके लिये हँसते हुए कहा
bhīṣma uvāca | punar eva tu taṃ śakraḥ prahasann idam abravīt | niḥśvasantaṃ yathā nāgaṃ pravyāhārāya bhārata ||
Bhishma said: O Bharata, then Indra (Shakra), smiling as if to display his own superiority, spoke again to Bali—who was hissing like a serpent, drawing breath in anger and preparing to reply. The scene frames a moral tension: pride and provocation on one side, and the restrained yet forceful assertion of truth and the power of Time on the other.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sets up an ethical contrast: Indra’s smiling assertion of superiority versus Bali’s controlled but intense readiness to answer. In the larger dialogue, this becomes a lesson on how pride and status are unstable before Kāla (Time), and how true strength lies in insight and restraint rather than mere dominance.
Bhishma narrates to Yudhiṣṭhira: after Bali’s earlier words, Indra again addresses Bali. Bali is described as hissing like a serpent—agitated and about to respond—while Indra speaks with a smile, suggesting provocation or self-display, thereby intensifying the debate.