Shloka 53
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
जड़मा: स्थावराश्नैव दिवि वा यदि वा भुवि | सर्वे कालात्मका: सर्प कालात्मकमिदं जगत्,सर्प! पृथ्वी अथवा स्वर्गलोकमें जितने भी स्थावर-जड़म पदार्थ हैं, वे सभी कालके अधीन हैं। यह सारा जगत् ही कालस्वरूप है
jaḍāḥ sthāvarāś caiva divi vā yadi vā bhuvi | sarve kālātmakāḥ sarpa kālātmakam idaṁ jagat ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Au ciel comme sur la terre, toutes les choses inertes et immobiles, sans exception, sont gouvernées par le Temps. Ô Serpent, tout est de la nature du Temps ; en vérité, ce monde entier est le Temps lui-même.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the all-pervasiveness and sovereignty of Kāla (Time): even the most stable, inert, and immovable entities—whether conceived in heaven or on earth—are not independent but are encompassed and determined by Time. Ethically, it supports humility, detachment from pride in permanence, and a dharmic awareness that worldly conditions are transient and governed by a larger cosmic order.
Bhishma is instructing an interlocutor addressed as “Sarpa” (a serpent/nāga), emphasizing a philosophical point within his didactic discourse: the entire world is time-constituted and time-governed, so no being or object can claim lasting autonomy or permanence.