Shloka 42

Arjuna meets the Lokapālas, is tested by Indra, and is led to Amarāvatī for astra-śikṣā

Indraloka-gamana

Devanagari script

विभजन्‌ सर्वभूतानामायु: कर्म च भारत । अहोरात्र॑ कला: काष्ठा: सृजत्येष सदा विभु:

Transliteration

vibhajan sarvabhūtānām āyuḥ karma ca bhārata | ahorātraṃ kalāḥ kāṣṭhāḥ sṛjaty eṣa sadā vibhuḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : «Ô Bhārata, ce Seigneur puissant (le Soleil) répartit sans cesse à tous les êtres la durée de vie et les fruits des actions. Créant continuellement le flux du temps—le jour et la nuit, et des mesures plus fines telles que kalā et kāṣṭhā—il maintient la marche ordonnée du monde.»

Word by Word

• विभजन्: dividing, apportioning
• विभजन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: विभज्
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सर्वभूतानाम्: of all beings
• सर्वभूतानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वभूत
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• आयुः: lifespan
• आयुः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आयुस्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• कर्म: action, deed (destined work)
• कर्म: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• भारत: O Bharata (descendant of Bharata)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• अहोरात्रम्: day-and-night (the nychthemeron)
• अहोरात्रम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहोरात्र
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• कलाः: parts (time-divisions), kalās
• कलाः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कला
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Plural

• काष्ठाः: time-units (kāṣṭhās)
• काष्ठाः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: काष्ठा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Plural

• सृजति: creates, produces
• Type: Verb
• Root: सृज्
• Form: Present (Lat), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• एषः: this (one)
• एषः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सदा: always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा

• विभुः: the mighty one, the all-powerful
• विभुः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विभु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira as addressee)
• Sūrya/Savitṛ (the Sun, implied by context)
• Ahorātra (day-night cycle)
• Kalā (time-unit)
• Kāṣṭhā (time-unit)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents time as a divinely sustained order: the Sun, as a cosmic regulator, continually generates the measures of time and thereby ‘distributes’ beings’ lifespan and karmic outcomes—emphasizing that ethical causality (karma) unfolds within an ordered, ceaseless temporal flow.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is explaining to Yudhiṣṭhira the Sun’s unbroken motion and cosmic function: by producing day and night and finer time-divisions (kalā, kāṣṭhā), the Sun maintains the world’s rhythm in which beings live out their allotted life and experience the results of their actions.