Shloka 186
उद्योगपर्व (अध्याय १२९) — केशवस्य वैभवप्रदर्शनम् / Krishna’s Theophanic Display in the Kuru Assembly
अशक्यमयशस्यं च कर्तु कर्म समुद्यता: । सात्यकिका यह वचन सुनकर दूरदर्शी विदुरने कौरवसभामें महाबाहु धृतराष्ट्रसे कहा --'परंतप नरेश! जान पड़ता है, आपके सभी पुत्र सर्वथा कालके अधीन हो गये हैं। इसीलिये वे यह अकीर्तिकारक और असम्भव कर्म करनेको उतारू हुए हैं
Aśakyam ayaśasyaṃ ca kartuṃ karma samudyatāḥ. Sātyakikā idaṃ vacanaṃ śrutvā dūradarśī viduro ne kouravasabhāyāṃ mahābāhu dhṛtarāṣṭraṃ uvāca—“Parantapa nareśa! jānīyate, tava sarve putrāḥ sarvathā kālasya vaśaṃ gatāḥ; tasmād ete ’kīrtikaraṃ ca aśakyaṃ ca karma kartuṃ pravṛttāḥ.”
«Они вознамерились совершить деяние и невозможное, и позорное». Услышав слова Сатьяки, дальновидный Видура обратился в собрании куру к могучеруким Дхритараштре: «О царь, укротитель врагов! Похоже, все твои сыновья всецело подпали под власть Времени (рока). Потому-то они и рвутся к делу, что принесёт бесчестье и в самом деле не может быть совершено».
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura warns that when leaders and their heirs fall under the sway of Kāla (Time/fate)—often a poetic way of describing moral decline and inevitable consequence—they attempt actions that are both unethical (bringing infamy) and ultimately self-defeating. The verse highlights the duty of wise counsel: to name dishonour as dishonour and to caution rulers against choices that violate dharma and invite ruin.
In the Kuru court, after Sātyaki’s statement, Vidura—known for clear moral vision—turns to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra and interprets the Kauravas’ aggressive resolve as a sign that the king’s sons are overtaken by the force of Time. He frames their intended course as an impossible and disgraceful undertaking, foreshadowing the catastrophic trajectory toward war.