Shloka 25
अध्यात्म-तत्त्व-निर्णयः
Adhyātma Taxonomy: Elements, Faculties, and Guṇas
काल: पचति भूतानि सर्वाण्येवात्मनात्मनि । यस्मिंस्तु पच्यते कालस्तं वेदेह न कश्नन,काल सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंको स्वयं ही अपने भीतर पकाता रहता है, परंतु जहाँ काल भी पकाया जाता है, जो कालका भी काल है; उस परमात्माको यहाँ कोई नहीं जानता
kālaḥ pacati bhūtāni sarvāṇy evātmanātmani | yasmiṁs tu pacyate kālas taṁ veda iha na kaścana ||
ヴィヤーサは言った。「時は自らの力によって、あらゆる存在を己の内で『煮る』—熟させ、ついには呑み尽くす。だが、その中で時さえも『煮られる』実在、時を超えて時の限界となる至高のものを、この世で真に知る者はいない。」
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time governs and transforms all conditioned beings, but the Supreme Reality that transcends Time—within which Time itself is subject to a higher principle—remains unknowable to ordinary worldly cognition. The verse urges humility about human knowledge and points toward a transcendent ground beyond change.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa delivers a philosophical instruction: he uses the metaphor of ‘cooking’ to describe how Time ripens and consumes all beings, then contrasts this with the higher reality that even Time cannot surpass, emphasizing the limits of worldly understanding.