Shloka 4
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय २: संजयस्य दिव्यदृष्टिप्रदानम् तथा निमित्तवर्णनम्
Granting Sañjaya Divine Sight and the Description of Omens
व्यास उवाच राजन् परीतकालास्ते पुत्राश्चान्ये च पार्थिवा: । ते हिंसन्तीव संग्रामे समासाद्येतरेतरम्
vyāsa uvāca rājān parītakālāste putrāścānye ca pārthivāḥ | te hiṃsantīva saṅgrāme samāsādya itaretaram ||
Vyāsa dit : «Ô Roi, l’heure de la mort, fixée d’avance, est venue sur tes fils comme sur les autres souverains. S’étant rencontrés sur le champ de bataille, ils se tiennent prêts à frapper et à être frappés—résolus à s’anéantir les uns les autres.»
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the convergence of kāla (time/fate) and human action: when destructive intent ripens, war becomes a field where moral responsibility and inevitable consequence meet. It warns that violence, once embraced, draws all parties toward ruin.
Vyāsa addresses the blind king (implied Dhṛtarāṣṭra), declaring that the death-hour has arrived for his sons and other kings. On the battlefield they have confronted each other and are poised for mutual slaughter, signaling the war’s irreversible onset.