Shloka 86
व्यात्ताननस्यापततो यथैव कालस्य काले हरत: प्रजा वै । अत्यन्त वेगशाली भीमसेनके महान् वेगको आपके सैनिक रणभूमिमें रोक न सके। जैसे प्रलयकालमें मुँह बाकर आक्रमण करनेवाले प्रजासंहारकारी कालके वेगको कोई नहीं रोक सकता
vyāttānanasya āpatato yathaiva kālasya kāle harataḥ prajā vai | atyanta-vegāśālī bhīmasenena mahān vego yuṣmākaṃ sainikair raṇabhūmau na śakyaḥ pratibandhum | yathā pralayakāle mukham āvṛtya ākrāmataḥ prajāsaṃhārakāriṇaḥ kālasya vegaṃ kaścid api na nivārayitum arhati |
Sañjaya said: Your soldiers could not check the tremendous onrush of Bhīmasena on the battlefield—just as none can restrain the force of Time when, at the hour of dissolution, it advances with gaping mouth to carry off creatures. The comparison casts Bhīma’s charge as an irresistible, almost cosmic agency of destruction within the moral chaos of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores inevitability: certain forces—symbolized by Kāla at pralaya—cannot be restrained. In the war narrative, Bhīma’s momentum is portrayed as similarly unstoppable, reminding the listener that human power often fails before destiny-like forces unleashed in conflict.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava troops are unable to halt Bhīma’s furious advance on the battlefield. He heightens the scene by likening Bhīma’s rush to Time/Death devouring beings at the end of the world.