Shloka 151
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
असंशयं हि कालस्य पर्यायो दुरतिक्रम: । तादृशा निहता यत्र कृत्वास्माकं जनक्षयम्,राजन! इसमें संशय नहीं कि कालकी गतिका उल्लंघन करना अत्यन्त कठिन है। जहाँ हमारे पक्षके लोगोंका संहार करके विजयको प्राप्त हुए वैसे-वैसे वीर मार डाले गये
asaṃśayaṃ hi kālasya paryāyo duratikramaḥ | tādṛśā nihatā yatra kṛtvāsmākaṃ janakṣayam, rājan |
Sañjaya said: There is no doubt that the course and turning of Time is exceedingly hard to overstep. In that very place, O King, those same mighty warriors—who had brought about the destruction of our people and won their victory—were themselves struck down.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability of Kāla (Time): even those who achieve victory through devastating violence cannot escape the larger cycle of consequence. It frames the war’s outcomes as governed by an overpowering temporal-moral order that no one can easily transgress.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the very warriors who had earlier caused massive losses to the Kaurava side and secured triumph were later themselves killed—highlighting the reversal brought about by the inexorable movement of Time.