Shloka 140
Atithi-satkāra and the Consolation of Wise Counsel (अतिथिसत्कारः प्रज्ञानवचनस्य च पराश्वासनम्)
त॑ विद्धि रुद्रं कौन्तेय देवदेवं कपर्दिनम् । काल: स एव कथित: क्रोधजेति मया तव
taṁ viddhi rudraṁ kaunteya devadevaṁ kapardinam | kālaḥ sa eva kathitaḥ krodhajeti mayā tava ||
കുന്തീനന്ദനേ! അവനെ രുദ്രനായി—ദേവദേവനായി, ജടാജൂടധാരിയായി—അറിയുക. അവൻ തന്നെയാണ് ‘കാലൻ’ എന്നും പറയപ്പെടുന്നത്; അവനെയേ ഞാൻ നിനക്കു ‘ക്രോധജൻ’ (ക്രോധത്തിൽ നിന്നു ജനിച്ചവൻ) എന്നു പറഞ്ഞറിയിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്.
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the unity of divine power behind different names: Rudra (Śiva) is also Kāla (Time/Death) and is described as arising from wrath. It frames fearsome forces—anger, destruction, mortality—as aspects of a single cosmic lord, not random cruelty, thereby situating ethical reflection within a larger order.
Arjuna addresses a listener (implicitly within the Shānti-parvan’s didactic setting) and identifies the deity being discussed: he declares that the one in question should be understood as Rudra/Śiva, also called Kāla and ‘born of wrath.’ The speech functions as theological clarification through epithets.