Shloka 39
Sudeva Identifies Damayantī in Cedi (सुदेवेन दमयन्ती-परिचयः)
नाप्राप्तकालो ग्रियते श्रुतं वृद्धानुशासनम् । या नाहमद्य मृदिता हस्तियूथेन दु:खिता,“जिसकी मृत्युका समय नहीं आया है, वह इच्छा होते हुए भी मर नहीं सकता। वृद्ध पुरुषोंका यह जो उपदेश मैंने सुन रखा है, यह ठीक ही जान पड़ता है, तभी तो आज मैं दुःखित होनेपर भी हाथियोंके झुंडसे कुचलकर मर न सकी
bṛhadaśva uvāca |
na aprāptakālo mriyate śrutaṃ vṛddhānuśāsanam |
yā nāham adya mṛditā hastiyūthena duḥkhitā ||
Bṛhadaśva said: “One whose destined time has not yet arrived cannot die, even if he longs for death. The instruction of the elders that I had heard seems indeed true—for though I am afflicted and in misery today, I could not be crushed to death by the herd of elephants.”
बृहदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the primacy of kāla (appointed time) in life and death: until one’s destined moment arrives, death does not occur even when one seeks it. It also affirms the authority of vṛddhānuśāsana—wisdom transmitted by elders—as validated by lived experience.
The speaker reflects on a personal ordeal: despite being in great distress and even being trampled/crushed by a herd of elephants, death did not come. This experience is presented as proof that fate/time governs the moment of death.