Shloka 4

Devanagari script

व्यास उवाच राजन्‌ परीतकालास्ते पुत्राश्चान्ये च पार्थिवा: । ते हिंसन्तीव संग्रामे समासाद्येतरेतरम्‌,व्यासजी बोले--राजन! तुम्हारे पुत्रों तथा अन्य राजाओंका मृत्युकाल आ पहुँचा है। वे संग्राममें एक-दूसरेसे भिड़कर मरने-मारनेको तैयार खड़े हैं

Transliteration

vyāsa uvāca rājān parītakālāste putrāścānye ca pārthivāḥ | te hiṃsantīva saṅgrāme samāsādya itaretaram ||

Translation

Vyāsa disse: “Ó rei, chegou aos teus filhos e também aos demais soberanos o tempo de morte que estava destinado. Tendo-se encontrado no campo de batalha, permanecem de pé, prontos para ferir e para ser feridos—decididos à destruição mútua.”

Word by Word

व्यासःVyasa

उवाचsaid

राजन्O king

परीतकालाःwhose time (of death) has come / at the end of their time

तेthose / they

पुत्राःsons

चand

अन्येother

चand

पार्थिवाःkings

तेthey

हिंसन्तिthey harm / they kill

इवas if

संग्रामेin battle

समासाद्यhaving approached / having encountered

इतरेतरम्one another (mutually)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

the King (Dhṛtarāṣṭra, implied)

your sons (the Kauravas, implied)

other kings (allied rulers, unspecified)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the convergence of kāla (time/fate) and human action: when destructive intent ripens, war becomes a field where moral responsibility and inevitable consequence meet. It warns that violence, once embraced, draws all parties toward ruin.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa addresses the blind king (implied Dhṛtarāṣṭra), declaring that the death-hour has arrived for his sons and other kings. On the battlefield they have confronted each other and are poised for mutual slaughter, signaling the war’s irreversible onset.