Shloka 69
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
भीष्म उवाच अथोपगम्य कालस्तु तस्मिन् धर्मार्थसंशये । अब्रवीत् पन्नगं मृत्युं लुब्धं चार्जुनकं तथा
bhīṣma uvāca athopagamya kālas tu tasmin dharmārtha-saṁśaye | abravīt pannagaṁ mṛtyuṁ lubdhaṁ cārjunakaṁ tathā ||
Bhishma dijo: «Oh Yudhiṣṭhira, cuando surgió una duda acerca de lo que es justo (dharma) y de lo que es provechoso (artha), el Tiempo mismo llegó allí. Entonces se dirigió a la serpiente, a la Muerte, al cazador codicioso y también a Arjunaka.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical conflict between dharma (what is right) and artha (what is expedient/beneficial), and introduces Kāla (Time) as an overarching force that intervenes—suggesting that moral dilemmas unfold within the larger inevitability of time, consequence, and mortality.
Bhishma narrates to Yudhiṣṭhira that, when a doubt about dharma and artha arises, Time arrives on the scene and speaks to a set of figures—serpent, Death, and hunters (Lubdha and Arjunaka)—setting up a didactic episode involving these characters.