Shloka 83

Devanagari script

जरामृत्युमहाग्राहे न कश्चिदभिपद्यते । काल समस्त प्राणियोंका उच्छेद कर डालता है। जैसे जलका प्रवाह किसी वस्तुको बहाये लिये जाता है, उसी प्रकार काल सदा ही प्राणियोंको अपने वेगसे बहाया करता है। यह काल बिना नौकाके समुद्रकी भाँति लहरा रहा है। जरा और मृत्यु विशाल ग्राहका रूप धारण करके उसमें बैठे हुए हैं। उस काल-सागरमें बहते और डूबते हुए जीवको कोई भी बचा नहीं सकता

Transliteration

jarāmṛtyumahāgrāhe na kaścid abhipadyate | kālaḥ samastaprāṇinām ucchedaṃ karoti | yathā jalapravāhaḥ kiñcid vastu vahann eti tathā kālaḥ sadā prāṇinaḥ svavegena vahati | sa kālaḥ anaukā iva sāgaraḥ ullasati | jarā ca mṛtyuś ca viśālagrāharūpaṃ dhṛtvā tasmin niṣaṇṇe | tasmin kālasāgare vahyamānaṃ nimajjamānaṃ ca jīvaṃ kaścid api na trātuṃ śaknoti ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “No one can escape the great crocodile-like grasp of old age and death. Time cuts down all living beings. Just as a current carries an object along, so Time continually sweeps creatures away by its own force. That Time surges like an ocean without a boat; within it sit Old Age and Death, taking the form of vast crocodiles. A being drifting and sinking in that ocean of Time cannot be rescued by anyone.”

Word by Word

• जरा-मृत्यु-महा-ग्राहे: in the great crocodile (i.e., grasp) of old age and death
• जरा-मृत्यु-महा-ग्राहे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जरा + मृत्यु + महा + ग्राह
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• कश्चित्: anyone
• कश्चित्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: कश्चित्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अभिपद्यते: escapes / gets through / finds deliverance
• Type: Verb
• Root: √पद् (पद्यते) with अभि-
• Form: Present, 3rd, Singular, Atmanepada

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Kāla (Time)
• Jarā (Old Age)
• Mṛtyu (Death)
• Sāgara (Ocean)
• Naukā (Boat)
• Jala-pravāha (Water-current)
• Grāha (Crocodile/sea-monster)
• Jīva (Living being)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Time is an irresistible force that carries all beings toward decline and death; recognizing this inevitability supports ethical seriousness, detachment from pride and possessions, and urgency in pursuing dharma and inner liberation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma, instructing on dharma in the Shanti Parva, uses vivid imagery—Time as a boatless ocean and old age and death as huge crocodiles—to emphasize that no worldly power can rescue a being swept along by Time.