Shloka 24
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 31 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Instructions to Sañjaya
Peace Appeal and Five-Village Proposal
एतान् गुणान् कर्मकृतानवेक्ष्य भावाभावी वर्तमानावनित्यौ । बलिह्ि राजा पारमविन्दमानो नान्यत् कालात् कारणं तत्र मेने
etān guṇān karmakṛtān avekṣya bhāvābhāvī vartamānāv anityau | balir hi rājā pāram avindamāno nānyat kālāt kāraṇaṃ tatra mene ||
Sanjaya said: Reflecting that these qualities arise from one’s own past actions, and that present prosperity and decline among beings are both impermanent, King Bali—unable to find the far shore of this problem—concluded that, in this matter, there is no cause other than Time (fate).
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Qualities and capacities are seen as arising from past karma, while present success and failure are unstable; when causality seems unfathomable, Bali adopts the view that Time (kāla/daiva) is the decisive cause.
Sanjaya reports a reflective conclusion attributed to King Bali: after contemplating the karmic origin of virtues and the fleeting nature of worldly rise and fall, Bali cannot reach a definitive explanation and therefore attributes outcomes primarily to Time/fate.