Shloka 20
कालनिर्णयः, युगधर्मवर्णनम्, सृष्टिक्रमश्च
Time-Reckoning, Yuga-Dharma, and the Sequence of Creation
दग्धमेवानुदहति हतमेवानुहन्यते । नश्यते नष्टमेवाग्रे लब्धव्यं लभते नर:,जो कालके द्वारा दग्ध हो चुका है, उसीको पीछेसे आग जलाती है। जिसे कालने पहलेसे ही मार डाला है, वही किसी दूसरेके द्वारा मारा जाता है। जो पहलेसे ही नष्ट हो चुकी है, वही वस्तु किसीके द्वारा नष्ट की जाती है तथा जिसका मिलना पहलेसे ही निश्चित है, उसीको मनुष्य हस्तगत करता है
śakra uvāca | dagdham evānudahati hatam evānuhanyate | naśyate naṣṭam evāgre labdhavyaṃ labhate naraḥ ||
That which has already been burned is, as it were, burned again; that which has already been slain is slain again. What has already perished beforehand is what appears to be destroyed, and what is already destined to be obtained is what a man comes to possess. The teaching is that outcomes unfold according to Time and destiny; human agency operates within what has already been set in motion, so one should act without arrogance and without excessive grief.
श॒क्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the inevitability of outcomes governed by Kāla (Time) and destiny: events that occur appear to be caused by immediate agents, but in a deeper sense they unfold because they were already determined. This encourages humility, steadiness, and reduced attachment to success or failure.
Śakra (Indra) speaks in a reflective, instructive tone, using parallel examples—burning, killing, destroying, obtaining—to convey that what happens to beings and things follows an already-established course, and human actions often serve as instruments in that larger order.