Shloka 138
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
मत्स्यो जलचरो जाल्यो5कल: केलिकल: कलि: । अकालकश्चातिकाल श्र दुष्काल: काल एव च
matsyo jalacaro jālyo 'kalaḥ kelikalaḥ kaliḥ | akālaś cātikālaś ca duṣkālaḥ kāla eva ca ||
Bhīṣma diz: “Tu és o peixe, a criatura que se move nas águas e o crocodilo que traz a rede—e, no entanto, és também ‘Akala’, além de todo vínculo e limitação. És o próprio jogo, e és também Kali. És o tempo fora de hora, o tempo em excesso, o tempo da calamidade e o próprio Tempo.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Supreme can be understood as manifesting in diverse, even paradoxical forms—creaturely and cosmic, playful and fearsome—yet remains beyond limitation. Time (kāla) and its auspicious/inauspicious phases are ultimately under that single divine sovereignty, reinforcing humility and dharmic vigilance.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher truths. Here he offers a hymn-like identification of the Lord with multiple forms and with Time itself, emphasizing the all-encompassing nature of the divine principle that governs worldly change and moral consequence.