Shloka 76
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
एवं नाहं न वै मृत्युने सर्पो न तथा भवान् । नचेयं ब्राह्मणी वृद्धा शिशुरेवात्र कारणम्
evaṁ nāhaṁ na vai mṛtyunā sarpo na tathā bhavān | na ceyaṁ brāhmaṇī vṛddhā śiśur evātra kāraṇam ||
Kāla dit : « Ainsi, ni moi, ni la Mort, ni le serpent, ni toi (le chasseur), ni même cette brāhmaṇī âgée ne sommes véritablement la cause de la mort de l’enfant. En cette affaire, l’enfant lui-même—par la force de ses actes passés—est devenu la cause de sa propre mort. »
काल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that apparent agents (Time, Death, serpent, hunter, or the grieving mother) are not the ultimate cause; the deeper cause is the individual’s own karma. It reframes blame into moral causality, emphasizing responsibility across lifetimes rather than immediate scapegoating.
Kāla (Time), speaking in a didactic context, addresses the tendency to assign guilt for a child’s death. He denies that any external figure is the true cause and asserts that the child’s death occurs according to his own karmic trajectory, redirecting the discussion toward dharma and the workings of moral law.