Shloka 32
Adhyāya 199: Karma–Jñāna Causality and the Nirguṇa Brahman
Manu’s Instruction
कालने कहा--विप्रवर! तुम्हारे इस जपका यथायोग्य सर्वोत्तम फल प्राप्त हुआ है। अतः अब तुम्हारे लिये स्वर्गलोकमें जानेका समय आया है। यही सूचित करनेके लिये मैं साक्षात् काल तुम्हारे पास आया हूँ ।।
mṛtyur uvāca—mṛtyuṁ māṁ viddhi dharmajña rūpiṇaṁ svayam āgatam | kālena codito vipra tvām ito netum adya vai ||
死は言った。「われを死と知れ——姿を現し、自らここへ来た者、法を知る者よ。婆羅門の最勝よ、時に促され、今日われは汝をここより連れ去るために来た。」
काल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a dharma-knowing person remains subject to Kāla (Time): embodied life ends when Time impels Death. The verse underscores the ethical realism of the epic—spiritual merit may lead to higher realms, yet departure from the body occurs by the ordained order of Time.
Mṛtyu appears in person and identifies himself to a brāhmaṇa as Death. He explains that he has come, prompted by Kāla, to take the brāhmaṇa away from the present world—signaling the moment of transition from embodied life to the next state (contextually, toward heaven due to the fruit of the brāhmaṇa’s practice).