Shloka 21
कालनिर्णयः, युगधर्मवर्णनम्, सृष्टिक्रमश्च
Time-Reckoning, Yuga-Dharma, and the Sequence of Creation
नास्य द्वीप: कुतः पारो नावार: सम्प्रदृश्यते । नान्तमस्य प्रपश्यामि विधेर्दिव्यस्य चिन्तयन्,मैं बहुत सोचनेपर भी दिव्य विधाता कालका अन्त नहीं देख पाता हूँ। उस समुद्र-जैसे कालका कहीं द्वीप भी नहीं है, फिर पार कहाँसे प्राप्त हो सकता है? उसका आर-पार कहीं नहीं दिखायी देता है
śakra uvāca | nāsya dvīpaḥ kutaḥ pāro nāvāraḥ sampradṛśyate | nāntam asya prapaśyāmi vidher divyasya cintayan |
For this mighty course of Time there is no island of refuge—so how could one ever reach a farther shore? No boundary is seen at all. Even when I ponder the divine ordinance that governs the world, I cannot perceive its end.
श॒क्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the king of the gods admits the limits of power and knowledge before the vastness of Time and the divine order (vidhi). The verse urges humility and steadiness in dharma: one should act rightly without imagining complete control over outcomes.
Śakra (Indra) speaks reflectively, using the image of a shoreless ocean to describe the inexhaustible, ungraspable nature of the divine ordinance—often understood as the working of Time and fate—confessing that he cannot discern its boundaries or end.