Shloka 20
कालनिर्णयः, युगधर्मवर्णनम्, सृष्टिक्रमश्च
Time-Reckoning, Yuga-Dharma, and the Sequence of Creation
दग्धमेवानुदहति हतमेवानुहन्यते । नश्यते नष्टमेवाग्रे लब्धव्यं लभते नर:
śakra uvāca | dagdham evānudahati hatam evānuhanyate | naśyate naṣṭam evāgre labdhavyaṃ labhate naraḥ ||
すでに焼かれたものは、あたかも再び焼かれるかのようであり、すでに殺されたものは、あたかも再び殺されるかのようである。前もって滅びたものこそが滅ぼされたように見え、すでに得られると定まっているものこそが人の手に帰する。教えはこうだ――結果は時（カーラ）と宿命に従って展開し、人の働きはすでに動き出した流れの内でなされる。ゆえに驕らず、過度に嘆かずに行為せよ。
श॒क्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the inevitability of outcomes governed by Kāla (Time) and destiny: events that occur appear to be caused by immediate agents, but in a deeper sense they unfold because they were already determined. This encourages humility, steadiness, and reduced attachment to success or failure.
Śakra (Indra) speaks in a reflective, instructive tone, using parallel examples—burning, killing, destroying, obtaining—to convey that what happens to beings and things follows an already-established course, and human actions often serve as instruments in that larger order.