Shloka 186
उद्योगपर्व (अध्याय १२९) — केशवस्य वैभवप्रदर्शनम् / Krishna’s Theophanic Display in the Kuru Assembly
अशक्यमयशस्यं च कर्तु कर्म समुद्यता: । सात्यकिका यह वचन सुनकर दूरदर्शी विदुरने कौरवसभामें महाबाहु धृतराष्ट्रसे कहा --'परंतप नरेश! जान पड़ता है
Aśakyam ayaśasyaṃ ca kartuṃ karma samudyatāḥ. Sātyakikā idaṃ vacanaṃ śrutvā dūradarśī viduro ne kouravasabhāyāṃ mahābāhu dhṛtarāṣṭraṃ uvāca—“Parantapa nareśa! jānīyate, tava sarve putrāḥ sarvathā kālasya vaśaṃ gatāḥ; tasmād ete ’kīrtikaraṃ ca aśakyaṃ ca karma kartuṃ pravṛttāḥ.”
「彼らは、不可能であり、しかも不名誉な業をなそうとしている。」サーティヤキの言葉を聞くや、先見の明あるヴィドゥラは、クル族の सभाにおいて剛腕のドリタラーシュトラに告げた。「敵を屈する王よ。どうやら、あなたの息子たちはことごとく時（運命）の力に完全に支配されてしまった。ゆえにこそ、悪名を招き、真に成就し得ぬ業に執着しているのだ。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura warns that when leaders and their heirs fall under the sway of Kāla (Time/fate)—often a poetic way of describing moral decline and inevitable consequence—they attempt actions that are both unethical (bringing infamy) and ultimately self-defeating. The verse highlights the duty of wise counsel: to name dishonour as dishonour and to caution rulers against choices that violate dharma and invite ruin.
In the Kuru court, after Sātyaki’s statement, Vidura—known for clear moral vision—turns to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra and interprets the Kauravas’ aggressive resolve as a sign that the king’s sons are overtaken by the force of Time. He frames their intended course as an impossible and disgraceful undertaking, foreshadowing the catastrophic trajectory toward war.