Shloka 56
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
सरित: सागराश्षैव भावाभावौ च पन्नग । सर्वे कालेन सृज्यन्ते द्वियन्ते च पुन: पुन:
saritaḥ sāgarāś caiva bhāvābhāvau ca pannaga | sarve kālena sṛjyante dvīyante ca punaḥ punaḥ ||
ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ പന്നഗ! നദികളും സമുദ്രങ്ങളും, ഭാവവും അഭാവവും—ഇവയെല്ലാം കാലം തന്നെയാണ് സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്നത്; വീണ്ടും വീണ്ടും കാലം തന്നെയാണ് ക്ഷയിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time (kāla) is the universal force that both produces and erodes all phenomena—natural forms like rivers and oceans as well as abstract conditions like existence and non-existence—so one should understand impermanence and avoid pride or despair over changing fortunes.
Bhīṣma addresses a being called “pannaga” (a serpent/Nāga) and delivers a reflective statement on kāla: everything arises due to time and is repeatedly reduced by time, framing the discussion in a moral-philosophical register typical of the Anuśāsana Parva.