Shloka 14
स्त्रीपर्व — नवमोऽध्यायः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra summons the Kuru women; the city departs in collective lamentation
काल: कर्षति भूतानि सर्वाणि विविधानि च । न कालस्य प्रिय: वक्रिन्न द्वेष्प: कुरुसत्तम,“काल सभी विविध प्राणियोंको खींचता है। कुरुश्रेष्ठ कालके लिये न तो कोई प्रिय है और न कोई द्वेषका पात्र ही
kālaḥ karṣati bhūtāni sarvāṇi vividhāni ca | na kālasya priyaḥ kaścid na dveṣyaḥ kurusattama ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Kala menarik semua makhluk—dengan pelbagai jenis dan keadaan. Wahai yang terbaik antara Kuru, bagi Kala tiada yang dikasihi dan tiada yang dibenci.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time (kāla) is an impartial power that carries all beings toward change and death; it does not act out of personal preference or hatred. The ethical implication is to temper grief and anger with understanding of impermanence and the larger order, avoiding misplaced blame.
In the Stree Parva’s lamentation context after the great war, Vaiśampāyana articulates a consoling reflection: the devastation is not because Time favors one side and hates another; rather, all beings are equally subject to Time’s inexorable pull.