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Shloka 5

Strī Parva, Adhyāya 2 — Vidura’s Consolation on Kāla, Karma, and the Limits of Lamentation (विदुरोपदेशः)

अयुध्यमानो ग्रियते युध्यमानश्न जीवति । काल प्राप्प महाराज न कश्चिदतिवर्तते,महाराज! जो युद्ध नहीं करता, वह भी मर जाता है और जो संग्राममें जूझता है, वह भी जीवित बच जाता है। कालको पाकर कोई भी उसका उल्लंघन नहीं कर सकता

ayudhyamāno mriyate yudhyamānaś ca jīvati | kālaṃ prāpya mahārāja na kaścid ativartate ||

大王よ、戦わぬ者もまた死に、戦う者もなお生き残ることがある。定めの時(カーラ)が到来すれば、誰ひとりそれを越えることはできぬ。

अयुध्यमानःnot fighting
अयुध्यमानः:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootयुध्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular, शानच् (लट्), Ātmanepada (middle sense)
म्रियतेdies
म्रियते:
TypeVerb
Rootमृ
FormPresent (लट्), 3rd, Singular, Ātmanepada
युध्यमानःfighting
युध्यमानः:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootयुध्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular, शानच् (लट्), Ātmanepada (middle sense)
and
:
TypeIndeclinable
Root
जीवतिlives / survives
जीवति:
TypeVerb
Rootजीव्
FormPresent (लट्), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada
कालम्Time (Death)
कालम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootकाल
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular
प्राप्यhaving reached / upon attaining
प्राप्य:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootप्र-आप्
Formल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada/Ātmanepada-neutral (gerund)
महाराजO great king
महाराज:
TypeNoun
Rootमहाराज
FormMasculine, Vocative, Singular
not
:
TypeIndeclinable
Root
कश्चित्anyone
कश्चित्:
Karta
TypePronoun
Rootकिम्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
अतिवर्ततेoversteps / transgresses
अतिवर्तते:
TypeVerb
Rootअति-वृत्
FormPresent (लट्), 3rd, Singular, Ātmanepada

विदुर उवाच

V
Vidura
M
Mahārāja (the king addressed)

Educational Q&A

Death is not avoided merely by refusing to fight; survival is not guaranteed even by fighting. Ultimately, when one’s destined time (kāla) arrives, no one can escape it—so one should act with steadiness and dharmic discernment rather than panic.

In the Strī Parva’s aftermath of the great war, Vidura counsels the king, using a stark maxim about battle and fate to frame the catastrophe: human choices matter, yet they operate within the inescapable boundary of kāla.