Shloka 20
प्रजाविसर्ग-तत्त्वनिर्णयः | Cosmogony of Elemental Emergence
Bharadvāja–Bhṛgu Dialogue
जबतक मनुष्य भोगोंसे तृप्त नहीं होता, संग्रह ही करता रहता है, तभीतक ही उसे मौत आकर ले जाती है। ठीक वैसे ही, जैसे व्याप्र किसी पशुको ले जाता है ।।
yāvat manuṣyo bhogaiḥ na tṛpyati saṅgraham eva karoti; tāvat eva taṃ mṛtyur āgatya nayati—yathā vyāghraḥ paśum ādāya nayet. idaṃ kṛtam idaṃ kāryam idam anyat kṛtākṛtam; evam īhā-sukhāsaktaṃ kṛtāntaḥ kurute vaśe.
毗湿摩说道：只要人还未被享乐所满足，便只会不断积聚；而当他仍忙于此时，死亡便来将他带走——如猛虎叼走禽兽一般。人心里想着：“这件已做完；那件尚待做；另一件半成半废。”他执著于由无休止的奔逐所生之乐，终被时劫（死神）摄入其权势之下。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Insatiable craving for pleasures leads to endless accumulation and restless striving; while one remains absorbed in unfinished plans, Death/Time seizes one unexpectedly. The verse urges contentment and detachment, recognizing the inevitability of mortality.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on right living, Bhishma warns Yudhishthira about the human tendency to remain engrossed in worldly projects—counting what is done and what remains—until Death (Kṛtānta) overpowers them, illustrated by the image of a tiger carrying off its prey.