Shloka 12
Saṃsāra-mārga-vistaraḥ
Vidura’s Expanded Account of the Path
एते कालस्य निधयो नैतान् जानन्ति दुर्बुधा: । धात्राभिलिखितान्याहु: सर्वभूतानि कर्मणा
ete kālasya nidhayo naitān jānanti durbudhāḥ | dhātrābhilikhitāny āhuḥ sarvabhūtāni karmaṇā ||
These are the hidden stores of Time; the foolish do not recognize them. It is said that all beings, through their own deeds, are inscribed beforehand by the Ordainer—so events unfold as destiny shaped by karma.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura teaches that the workings of Time and destiny are subtle and often unseen; people of weak understanding fail to grasp them. Yet what appears as fate is closely tied to karma—beings experience outcomes that are, as it were, already ‘inscribed’ by the cosmic order in accordance with their deeds.
In the Stree Parva’s aftermath of the Kurukṣetra catastrophe, Vidura speaks in a reflective, consolatory mode. He frames the overwhelming suffering and reversals as part of Kāla’s hidden operation, emphasizing that events unfold under a larger moral-cosmic order connected to past actions.