Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 10
नाप्राप्तकालो म्रियते विद्ध: शरशतैरपि । तृणाग्रेणापि संस्पृष्ट: प्राप्तकालो न जीवति
nāprāptakālo mriyate viddhaḥ śaraśatair api | tṛṇāgreṇāpi saṃspṛṣṭaḥ prāptakālo na jīvati ||
युधिष्ठिर ने कहा—जिसका मृत्यु-काल नहीं आया, वह सैकड़ों बाणों से बिंधकर भी नहीं मरता; पर जिसका काल आ पहुँचा है, वह तिनके के अग्रभाग से छू जाने पर भी जीवित नहीं रहता।
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Life and death are ultimately governed by kāla (the appointed time): without the arrival of one’s destined end, even severe injury may not kill; once that time arrives, even a trivial cause can become fatal. The teaching encourages humility about human control and steadiness in dharmic action despite uncertainty.
Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a general principle about mortality using vivid war imagery (hundreds of arrows) contrasted with a trivial touch (a blade of grass). In the Anuśāsana context, such statements typically support instruction on conduct, endurance, and accepting outcomes under the larger order of Time.