Shloka 10

Devanagari script

नाप्राप्तकालो म्रियते विद्ध: शरशतैरपि । तृणाग्रेणापि संस्पृष्ट: प्राप्तकालो न जीवति

Transliteration

nāprāptakālo mriyate viddhaḥ śaraśatair api | tṛṇāgreṇāpi saṃspṛṣṭaḥ prāptakālo na jīvati ||

Translation

యుధిష్ఠిరుడు అన్నాడు—మరణకాలం ఇంకా రాని వాడు వందల బాణాలతో గుచ్చబడినా మరణించడు; కానీ కాలం వచ్చి చేరిన వాడు గడ్డి మొన తాకినంత మాత్రాన కూడా జీవించడు.

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अप्राप्तकालः: one whose time (of death) has not come
• अप्राप्तकालः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अप्राप्तकाल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• म्रियते: dies
• Type: Verb
• Root: मृ
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Atmanepada

• विद्धः: pierced, wounded
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विद्ध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शरशतैः: by hundreds of arrows
• शरशतैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरशत
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• अपि: even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• तृणाग्रेण: by the tip of a blade of grass
• तृणाग्रेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तृणाग्र
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• अपि: even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• संस्पृष्टः: touched
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संस्पृष्ट
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्राप्तकालः: one whose time (of death) has come
• प्राप्तकालः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राप्तकाल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• जीवति: lives, survives
• Type: Verb
• Root: जीव्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• युधिष्ठिर (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• शर (arrows)
• तृण (blade of grass)
• काल (Time/appointed time)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Life and death are ultimately governed by kāla (the appointed time): without the arrival of one’s destined end, even severe injury may not kill; once that time arrives, even a trivial cause can become fatal. The teaching encourages humility about human control and steadiness in dharmic action despite uncertainty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a general principle about mortality using vivid war imagery (hundreds of arrows) contrasted with a trivial touch (a blade of grass). In the Anuśāsana context, such statements typically support instruction on conduct, endurance, and accepting outcomes under the larger order of Time.