Shloka 56
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
सरित: सागराश्षैव भावाभावौ च पन्नग । सर्वे कालेन सृज्यन्ते द्वियन्ते च पुन: पुन:
saritaḥ sāgarāś caiva bhāvābhāvau ca pannaga | sarve kālena sṛjyante dvīyante ca punaḥ punaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : « Ô serpent, les rivières comme les océans, et même les états d’existence et de non-existence — tout est produit par le Temps, et, encore et encore, tout est amoindri et usé par le Temps. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time (kāla) is the universal force that both produces and erodes all phenomena—natural forms like rivers and oceans as well as abstract conditions like existence and non-existence—so one should understand impermanence and avoid pride or despair over changing fortunes.
Bhīṣma addresses a being called “pannaga” (a serpent/Nāga) and delivers a reflective statement on kāla: everything arises due to time and is repeatedly reduced by time, framing the discussion in a moral-philosophical register typical of the Anuśāsana Parva.