Shloka 140
Atithi-satkāra and the Consolation of Wise Counsel (अतिथिसत्कारः प्रज्ञानवचनस्य च पराश्वासनम्)
त॑ विद्धि रुद्रं कौन्तेय देवदेवं कपर्दिनम् । काल: स एव कथित: क्रोधजेति मया तव
taṁ viddhi rudraṁ kaunteya devadevaṁ kapardinam | kālaḥ sa eva kathitaḥ krodhajeti mayā tava ||
اے کُنتی نندن! اسے رُدر سمجھو—دیوتاؤں کا دیوتا، جٹاجوٹ دھاری۔ وہی ‘کال’ کہلاتا ہے؛ اور اسی کو میں نے تم سے ‘کروधج’ (غصّے سے پیدا ہونے والا) کہہ کر بیان کیا ہے۔
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the unity of divine power behind different names: Rudra (Śiva) is also Kāla (Time/Death) and is described as arising from wrath. It frames fearsome forces—anger, destruction, mortality—as aspects of a single cosmic lord, not random cruelty, thereby situating ethical reflection within a larger order.
Arjuna addresses a listener (implicitly within the Shānti-parvan’s didactic setting) and identifies the deity being discussed: he declares that the one in question should be understood as Rudra/Śiva, also called Kāla and ‘born of wrath.’ The speech functions as theological clarification through epithets.