Shloka 12
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 73 — Kr̥ṣṇa’s Appraisal of Bhīma’s Altered Temper and Reaffirmation of Martial Resolve
असुराणां समृद्धानां ज्वलतामिव तेजसा । पर्यायकाले धर्मस्य प्राप्त कलिरजायत
asurāṇāṁ samṛddhānāṁ jvalatām iva tejasā | paryāyakāle dharmasya prāpte kalir ajāyata ||
Bhīma dit : «De même que, parmi les Asura prospères, flamboyants de puissance, une querelle effroyable s’éleva lorsque le cycle tourna et que vint l’heure où le Dharma déclinait, de même, à l’approche de la fin de l’âge, des kṣatriya vils et destructeurs se manifestèrent dans de nombreuses lignées royales.»
भीम उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power and prosperity, when ungoverned by dharma, become conditions for discord; as the moral order turns (paryāya), ‘kali’—quarrel and degeneration—naturally arises, corrupting even royal lineages.
Bhima frames the present crisis as a symptom of a larger moral and temporal turning: like the Asuras who fell into internecine conflict at the decline of dharma, destructive rulers appear in various dynasties as the age darkens, setting the stage for widespread upheaval.