Shloka 11

Khaḍgotpattiḥ (Origin and Dharmic Function of the Sword) | खड्गोत्पत्तिः

Devanagari script

मूलं लोभस्य मोहो वै कालात्मगतिरेव च । छिने भिन्ने तथा लोभे कारणं काल एव च

Transliteration

mūlaṃ lobhasya moho vai kālātmagatir eva ca | chinne bhinne tathā lobhe kāraṇaṃ kāla eva ca ||

Translation

Бхишма сказал: Заблуждение — поистине корень алчности; и само Время, движущееся как внутреннее Я, направляет существ к их предначертанному пути. Даже когда алчность срублена или раздроблена на части, решающей причиной её возникновения и её исчезновения остаётся одно лишь Время.

Word by Word

• मूलम्: root, source
• मूलम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मूल
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• लोभस्य: of greed
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोभ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• मोहः: delusion
• मोहः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोह
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वै: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• कालात्मगतिḥ: the course/destiny that is of the nature of Time
• कालात्मगतिḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कालात्मगति
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• एव: only, just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• छिन्ने: when cut off
• छिन्ने: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: छिन्न
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• भिन्ने: when split, divided
• भिन्ने: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भिन्न
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तथा: thus, likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• लोभे: in greed / with regard to greed
• लोभे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोभ
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• कारणम्: cause
• कारणम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कारण
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• कालः: Time (as a cosmic principle)
• कालः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• एव: alone, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• kāla (Time)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Greed does not stand on its own: its root is delusion (moha), and behind both the arising and the breaking of greed stands Time (kāla) as an overarching, inevitable principle. Ethical effort therefore requires clarity of understanding to counter delusion, while recognizing the larger force of time that ripens tendencies and outcomes.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and inner discipline after the war. Here he analyzes the causal chain behind moral downfall: delusion gives birth to greed, and Time governs the unfolding, intensification, and eventual dissolution of such impulses.