Shloka 12

Devanagari script

कदाचित्‌ कालयोगेन सर्वप्राणिविहिंसक: । बलवान्‌ क्षतजाहारो नानासच्त्वभयंकर:,तदनन्तर कालयोगसे वहाँ एक बलवान्‌ वनवासी समस्त प्राणियोंका हिंसक शरभ आ पहुँचा, जिसके आठ पैर और ऊपरकी ओर नेत्र थे। वह रक्त पीनेवाला जानवर नाना प्रकारके वन-जन्तुओंके मनमें भय उत्पन्न कर रहा था। वह उस सिंहको मारनेके लिये मुनिके आश्रमपर आया

Transliteration

kadācit kālayogena sarva-prāṇi-vihiṃsakaḥ | balavān kṣata-jāhāro nānā-sattva-bhayaṃkaraḥ ||

Translation

ఒకసారి కాలయోగవశాత్తు అక్కడ సమస్త ప్రాణులను హింసించే ఒక బలవంతుడు ప్రత్యక్షమయ్యాడు. అతడు రక్తాహారి; నానావిధ జంతువులకు భయంకరుడయ్యాడు.

Word by Word

कदाचित्once, at some time

कालयोगेनby the conjunction of time; in due course of time

सर्वप्राणिविहिंसकःinjurer of all living beings

बलवान्strong, powerful

क्षतजाहारःblood-eating; feeding on blood

नानासत्त्वभयंकरःterrifying to various creatures

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma (speaker)

Time (kāla, as causal force)

A powerful blood-eating violent creature (unnamed in the Sanskrit verse)

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 frames violence and fear as forces that arise ‘by the working of Time’ (kālayoga), reminding the listener that destructive tendencies can manifest in the world through circumstance; it sets up an ethical contrast where indiscriminate harm (vihiṃsā) becomes a marker of adharma and a cause of widespread terror among beings.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma describes the arrival of a powerful, blood-feeding, universally harmful creature that terrifies many kinds of animals. The verse functions as the narrative entry-point for a subsequent episode in which this violent being becomes the source of danger and conflict.