Shloka 9
Strī Parva, Adhyāya 2 — Vidura’s Consolation on Kāla, Karma, and the Limits of Lamentation (विदुरोपदेशः)
यथा वायुस्तृणाग्राणि संवर्तयति सर्वश: । तथा कालवशं यान्ति भूतानि भरतर्षभ,भरतश्रेष्ठ जैसे हवा तिनकोंको सब ओर उड़ाती और डालती रहती है, उसी प्रकार समस्त प्राणी कालके अधीन होकर आते-जाते हैं
yathā vāyus tṛṇāgrāṇi saṃvartayati sarvaśaḥ | tathā kālavaśaṃ yānti bhūtāni bharatarṣabha ||
Vidura says: “Just as the wind whirls and scatters the tips of grass in every direction, so too all living beings, overpowered by Time, are driven to come and go. O bull among the Bharatas, none can stand independent of Time’s force.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
All beings are powerless before Kāla (Time): life’s movements—arrival, departure, loss—are governed by an impersonal force, so one should temper grief and cultivate steadiness and detachment.
In Strī Parva, amid the aftermath of the war and overwhelming lamentation, Vidura addresses the Kuru elder (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), offering counsel meant to console and to frame the catastrophe within the larger, unavoidable dominion of Time.