Shloka 18

उद्योगपर्व (अध्याय १२९) — केशवस्य वैभवप्रदर्शनम् / Krishna’s Theophanic Display in the Kuru Assembly

Devanagari script

धृतराष्ट्र महाबाहुमब्रवीत्‌ कुरुसंसदि । राजन्‌ परीतकालास्ते पुत्रा: सर्वे परंतप

Transliteration

dhṛtarāṣṭraṃ mahābāhum abravīt kurusaṃsadi | rājan parītakālāste putrāḥ sarve paraṃtapa ||

Translation

குருசபையில் அவர் மகாபாகு திருதராஷ்டிரனை நோக்கி கூறினார்—“அரசே, காலம் உனக்கு எதிராக மாறியுள்ளது; பரந்தபா, உன் புதல்வர்கள் அனைவரும் தங்கள் நியதியான முடிவின் விளிம்பில் நிற்கிறார்கள்.”

Word by Word

धृतराष्ट्रःDhṛtarāṣṭra

महाबाहुम्the mighty-armed (one)

अब्रवीत्said/spoke

कुरुसंसदिin the Kuru assembly

राजन्O king

परीतकालाःwhose time has come / at the end of their time

तेthose/they

पुत्राःsons

सर्वेall

परंतपO scorcher of foes

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Kuru assembly (Kurusaṃsad)

Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons (the Kauravas)

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 Mahābhārata’s ethical logic of consequence: when adharma is persisted in, Kāla (the ripening of deeds) turns adverse, and even royal power cannot avert the destined outcome. It functions as a moral warning to a ruler to recognize responsibility and act before irreversible harm occurs.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that, in the Kuru court, Dhṛtarāṣṭra is addressed directly with a grave warning: the decisive time has arrived, and his sons are headed toward destruction—signaling the imminent escalation toward the Kurukṣetra war.