Shloka 23
Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)
जैसे लोहार या बढ़ईका बनाया हुआ यन्त्र सदा उसके चालकके अधीन रहता है, उसी प्रकार यह सारा जगत् कालयुक्त कर्मकी प्रेरणासे ही सचेष्ट हो रहा है ।।
vyāsa uvāca | yathā lohakāraḥ sūtrakāraḥ vā kṛtaṃ yantraṃ sadā tasya cālakasyādhīnaṃ tiṣṭhati, tathā idaṃ sarvaṃ jagat kālayukta-karma-preraṇayāiva saceṣṭaṃ bhavati || puruṣasya hi dṛṣṭvemām utpattim animittataḥ | yadṛcchayā vināśaṃ ca śoka-harṣāv anarthakau ||
ヴィヤーサは言った。「鍛冶や大工の作った器具が、つねに操る者の支配下にあるように、この全世界もまた、時（カーラ）と結びついた業（カルマ）の衝動によってのみ動かされている。人の生は明らかな因なくして起こり、滅びもまた偶然によって忽ち訪れると見定めるなら、嘆きも歓喜も空しいものとなる。」
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches equanimity: since worldly events proceed under the prompting of Time and the momentum of action, and since birth and death appear to occur without a clearly graspable cause, excessive grief or elation is ethically unhelpful; one should act rightly while remaining inwardly steady.
In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa offers a philosophical analogy—like a machine controlled by its operator—to explain how the world’s activity is driven by Kāla and karma, advising the listener to abandon futile emotional extremes.