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 ||
Bhima berkata: “Sebagaimana di antara para Asura yang makmur dan menyala oleh daya, ketika putaran zaman berbalik dan saat kemunduran Dharma tiba, timbul pertikaian yang mengerikan; demikian pula, ketika akhir zaman mendekat, para kṣatriya yang rendah dan perusak garis keturunan menampakkan diri dalam banyak wangsa raja.”
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.