Shloka 23

Devanagari script

ईदृशो लोकथधर्मो<यं धात्रा निर्दिष्ट उच्यते । विनाश: सर्वभूतानां कालपर्यायमागत:

Transliteration

īdṛśo lokadharmo 'yaṃ dhātrā nirdiṣṭa ucyate | vināśaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ kālaparyāyam āgataḥ ||

Translation

संजय म्हणाला— मित्रांनो! मर्त्यलोकाचा हा असा धर्म (नियम) आहे; असे म्हणतात की धात्यानेच तो ठरविला आहे. म्हणून काळाच्या परिपाकाने सर्व प्राण्यांच्या विनाशाची घडी एके दिवशी येऊन ठेपतेच.

Word by Word

• ईदृशः: such, of this kind
• ईदृशः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ईदृश
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• लोकधर्मः: the law/nature of the world
• लोकधर्मः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोकधर्म
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अयम्: this
• अयम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• धात्रा: by the Creator/Ordainer
• धात्रा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: धातृ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• निर्दिष्टः: appointed, prescribed
• निर्दिष्टः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्दिश्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, Past Passive Participle (क्त)

• उच्यते: is said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Present, Passive, Third, Singular

• विनाशः: destruction
• विनाशः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: विनाश
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सर्वभूतानाम्: of all beings
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वभूत
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• कालपर्यायम्: the course/turn of time
• कालपर्यायम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कालपर्याय
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आगतः: having come, arrived
• आगतः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आगम्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, Past Active Participle (क्तवतु)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhātṛ (the Creator/Ordainer)
• Kāla (Time/Death)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the inevitability of mortality: the world’s order (lokadharma) is such that, as ordained by the Creator, time (kāla) eventually brings destruction to all beings. It frames death not as an anomaly but as a universal rule.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra in the Shalya Parva war setting, pauses to state a reflective principle: amid the devastation of battle, the coming of death is presented as the natural, time-driven course decreed by the cosmic order.