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 berkata: “Wahai Indra, tuan Śacī! Bukan aku pelaku, bukan pula engkau, dan bukan siapa pun pelaku sejati. Waktulah yang, menurut urutan, sesuai kehendaknya sendiri, mengalami dan ‘melahap’ seluruh dunia. Para ahli Veda menyatakan: bulan-bulan dan paruh bulan adalah kediaman Waktu; siang dan malam adalah selubungnya; musim-musim adalah pintunya; tahun adalah mulutnya; dan Waktu sendiri adalah wujud usia.”
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.