Shloka 24
काल: सम ग्रसते योधान् धृष्टद्युम्नेन मोहितान् | संग्रामे तुमुले तस्मिन्निति सम्मेनिरे जना:,उस भयंकर संग्राममें सब लोग ऐसा मानने लगे कि काल ही धृष्टद्युम्नके द्वारा कौरवयोद्धाओंको मोहित करके उन्हें अपना ग्रास बना रहा है
kālaḥ samagrasate yodhān dhṛṣṭadyumnena mohitān | saṅgrāme tumule tasminn iti sammenire janāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In that fierce and tumultuous battle, people came to believe that Time (Death) itself—using Dhṛṣṭadyumna as its instrument—was deluding the warriors and swallowing them up. The scene suggested an ethical inevitability: once the frenzy of war takes hold, even mighty fighters appear powerless before the consuming force of kāla, which spares none.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kāla as an unstoppable moral and existential force: in war, delusion (moha) overtakes even skilled warriors, and death appears to consume all impartially. It underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring warning that violence unleashes forces beyond human control.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield perception that Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s onslaught is so overwhelming that it seems as if Death itself, acting through him, is confusing the warriors and devouring them amid the uproar of combat.