Shloka 31
Kailāsa-darśana, Badarī-vāsa, and Sarasvatī–Dvaitavana Transition (कैलासदर्शन–बदरीवास–सरस्वतीद्वैतवनगमनम्)
ते वध्यमाना मद्वाणैर्वज़वेगैरयस्मयै: पर्यभ्रमन्त वै राजन्नसुरा: कालचोदिता:,महाराज! लोहेके बने हुए मेरे बाणोंका वेग वज्ञ़के समान था। उनकी मार खाकर वे कालप्रेरित असुर चारों ओर चक्कर काटने लगते थे
te vadhyamānā madbāṇair vajravegair ayasmayaiḥ paryabhramanta vai rājann asurāḥ kālacoditāḥ
Arjuna said: “O King, struck by my iron arrows—swift as Indra’s thunderbolt—the Asuras, driven onward by Time itself, reeled and whirled about on every side.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield power within a larger moral-metaphysical horizon: even the mighty are ultimately moved by Kāla (Time/Fate). Human prowess (Arjuna’s vajra-like arrows) operates, yet the outcome is also portrayed as time-driven, reminding the listener that violence and victory unfold under forces beyond individual control.
Arjuna describes the immediate effect of his attack: his iron arrows, compared to the thunderbolt in speed and force, strike the Asuras so severely that they stagger and whirl about in disarray, as if compelled onward by Kāla.