Shloka 67
अध्याय १ — न्यग्रोधवनोपवेशनम् तथा द्रौणिनिश्चयः
Night at the Banyan and Drauṇi’s Resolve
केचिन्नागशतप्राणा: केचित् सर्वास्त्रकोविदा: । निहता: पाण्डवेयैस्ते मन््ये कालस्य पर्ययम्,“कितने ही वीर सौ-सौ हाथियोंके बराबर बलशाली थे और कितने ही सम्पूर्ण अस्त्र- शस्त्रोंकी संचालन-कलामें कुशल थे; किंतु पाण्डवोंने उन सबको मार गिराया। मैं इसे समयका ही फेर समझता हूँ
kecin nāgaśatapraṇāḥ kecit sarvāstrakovidāḥ | nihatāḥ pāṇḍaveyais te manye kālasya paryayam ||
संजय म्हणाला—काही योद्धे शंभर हत्तींच्या बळाइतके बलवान होते, काही सर्व अस्त्र-शस्त्रांत पारंगत होते; तरीही ते पांडुपुत्रांनी मारले गेले. हे मी काळाचा फेर मानतो।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even extraordinary strength and complete martial expertise can be overturned by Kāla—the larger, impersonal force of Time and destiny. The verse frames victory and defeat as subject to cosmic reversal, tempering pride in power and highlighting the fragility of human achievement in war.
Sañjaya reflects on the battlefield outcome: warriors of immense might and great weapons-skill were nevertheless killed by the Pāṇḍavas. He interprets this surprising fall of the powerful as a ‘turning of Time’ (kālasya paryaya), implying that events have moved according to fate’s reversal rather than predictable human calculation.