Shloka 46
कालनिर्णयः, युगधर्मवर्णनम्, सृष्टिक्रमश्च
Time-Reckoning, Yuga-Dharma, and the Sequence of Creation
शचीपति इन्द्र! न मैं कर्ता हूँ, न तुम कर्ता हो और न कोई दूसरा ही कर्ता है। काल बारी-बारीसे अपनी इच्छाके अनुसार सम्पूर्ण लोकोंका उपभोग करता है ।।
śakra uvāca | śacīpate indra! na mayi kartā, na tvaṃ kartā, na ca kaścid anya eva kartā | kālaḥ krameṇa svecchayā samastān lokān upabhuṅkte || māsamāsārdha-veśmānam ahorātrābhi-saṃvṛtam | ṛtu-dvāraṃ varṣa-mukham āyur veda-vido janāḥ ||
Śakra dit : «Ô Indra, seigneur de Śacī ! Je ne suis pas l’agent, pas plus que toi ; nul autre n’est véritablement l’agent. C’est le Temps qui, selon la succession et selon sa propre volonté, éprouve et consume tous les mondes. Les connaisseurs du Veda déclarent que les mois et les quinzaines sont la demeure du Temps ; le jour et la nuit, son vêtement ; les saisons, ses portes ; l’année, sa bouche. Le Temps lui-même est la forme de la durée de vie.»
श॒क्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the limitation of personal agency: ultimate causality is attributed to Kāla (Time), which governs the rise and fall of beings and worlds. This supports ethical detachment—acting without egoistic doership—and frames events as unfolding within a larger cosmic order.
Śakra (Indra) speaks in a reflective, philosophical mode, addressing Indra as Śacī’s lord, and explains that neither speaker nor listener is the true agent. He then uses a vivid metaphor: Time has months and fortnights as its dwelling, day and night as its covering, seasons as its doors, and the year as its mouth—emphasizing Time’s all-encompassing sovereignty over life-span.