Shloka 11
Khaḍgotpattiḥ (Origin and Dharmic Function of the Sword) | खड्गोत्पत्तिः
मूलं लोभस्य मोहो वै कालात्मगतिरेव च । छिने भिन्ने तथा लोभे कारणं काल एव च
mūlaṃ lobhasya moho vai kālātmagatir eva ca | chinne bhinne tathā lobhe kāraṇaṃ kāla eva ca ||
毗湿摩说道：迷妄确是贪欲之根；而「时间」本身——以内在自我之形而运行——驱使众生走向其所当行之途。即便贪欲被斩断、被击碎成片，其生起与消散的决定性原因，唯有时间而已。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greed does not stand on its own: its root is delusion (moha), and behind both the arising and the breaking of greed stands Time (kāla) as an overarching, inevitable principle. Ethical effort therefore requires clarity of understanding to counter delusion, while recognizing the larger force of time that ripens tendencies and outcomes.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and inner discipline after the war. Here he analyzes the causal chain behind moral downfall: delusion gives birth to greed, and Time governs the unfolding, intensification, and eventual dissolution of such impulses.