Shloka 17
Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)
न तस्य मातापितरी नानुग्राह्मो हि कश्नन । कर्मसाक्षी प्रजानां यस्तेन कालेन संहृता:,कालके माता-पिता नहीं हैं। उसका किसीपर भी अनुग्रह नहीं होता। जो प्रजावर्गके कर्मका साक्षी है, उसी कालने तुम्हारे शत्रुओंका संहार किया है
na tasya mātāpitarī nānugrāhyo hi kaścana | karmasākṣī prajānāṃ yas tena kālena saṃhṛtāḥ ||
Vyāsa berkata: “Bagi Waktu (Kāla) tiada ibu dan tiada ayah; dan ia tidak menganugerahkan kasih khusus kepada siapa pun. Waktu sajalah, saksi atas perbuatan semua makhluk, yang pada saat yang telah ditentukan menimpakan kebinasaan atas musuh-musuhmu.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time (Kāla) is impartial and not subject to personal bias or favoritism; it functions as the instrument through which the results of beings’ actions ripen. Therefore, one should not reduce events—especially destruction in war—to mere personal agency alone, but see them within the larger moral causality of karma and the inevitability of time.
Vyāsa addresses the aftermath of conflict and reframes the fall of enemies: their destruction is attributed to Kāla, the cosmic force that arrives when the destined moment matures, and which ‘witnesses’ the karmic record of beings. This counsel aims to temper grief, pride, and blame by pointing to a broader, ethically grounded causation.