Shloka 15
Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)
कांक्षमाणा: श्रियं कृत्स्नां पृथिव्यां च महद् यश: । कृतान्तविधिसंयुक्ता: कालेन निधनं गता:,वे सम्पूर्ण राजलक्ष्मी और भूमण्डलव्यापी महान् यशको प्राप्त करना चाहते थे; परंतु यमराजके विधानसे प्रेरित हो कालके गालमें चले गये हैं
kāṅkṣamāṇāḥ śriyaṃ kṛtsnāṃ pṛthivyāṃ ca mahad yaśaḥ | kṛtāntavidhisaṃyuktāḥ kālena nidhanaṃ gatāḥ ||
Mereka mendambakan kemakmuran diraja yang sempurna dan kemasyhuran besar yang tersebar di seluruh bumi; namun, digerakkan oleh ketetapan Kṛtānta (Maut), pada waktunya mereka dibawa menuju ajal oleh Kala, yakni Waktu itu sendiri.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the fullest prosperity and the widest fame are subordinate to the decree of Death and the power of Time; therefore one should temper ambition with dharma and detachment, remembering life’s inevitability of ending.
Vyāsa comments on people (implicitly rulers and aspirants to power) who sought complete royal fortune and earth-wide renown, but—bound to the law of Kṛtānta—eventually met death as Time brought their lives to a close.