Shloka 4
अध्याय १: महाप्रस्थानारम्भः
The Commencement of the Great Departure
“महामते! काल ही सम्पूर्ण भूतोंको पका रहा है--विनाशकी ओर ले जा रहा है। अब मैं कालके बन्धनको स्वीकार करता हूँ। तुम भी इसकी ओर दृष्टिपात करो” ।।
iti uktaḥ sa tu kaunteyaḥ kālaḥ kāla iti bruvan | anvapadyata tad vākyaṁ bhrātur jyeṣṭhasya dhīmataḥ ||
“噢，大智者！迦罗（时间）正使一切众生渐趋成熟——引向毁灭。如今我接受迦罗的束缚。你也当向此凝视。” 话音既落，昆蒂之子阿周那答道：“时间终究是时间；不可回避。” 说罢，他赞同了那位睿智长兄的言辞。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches lucid acceptance of Kāla (Time) as an inescapable cosmic law: all beings are ‘ripened’ toward dissolution, and wisdom lies in consenting to inevitability without clinging, aligning one’s mind with dharma and renunciation.
During the Mahāprasthāna (the great departure), the eldest brother speaks about the irresistible power of Time. Arjuna responds that ‘Time is Time’—it cannot be avoided—and he endorses his elder brother’s wise statement, signaling the brothers’ shared resolve to proceed without resistance.