Shloka 50
Kṣānti–Tejas Viveka: Prahlāda’s Instruction to Bali
Draupadī’s Application
कालो<यं दारुण: प्राप्तो भरतानामभूतये । निश्चितं मे सदैवैतत् पुरस्तादपि भाविनि
kālo ’yaṁ dāruṇaḥ prāpto bharatānām abhūtaye | niścitaṁ me sadaivaitat purastād api bhāvini ||
“A cruel time has now arrived, bringing ruin upon the Bharatas. This has always been certain in my mind—indeed, it was destined even from before, as something bound to come to pass.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yudhiṣṭhira frames calamity as the working of kāla (time/fate): suffering is not random but part of an unfolding inevitability. Ethically, the verse encourages sober acceptance of harsh circumstances without abandoning discernment and responsibility.
In the Vana Parva context, Yudhiṣṭhira voices foreboding about the future of the Bharata line, interpreting present adversity as a terrible turn of time that was long anticipated and destined to manifest.