Shloka 25
अध्यात्म-तत्त्व-निर्णयः
Adhyātma Taxonomy: Elements, Faculties, and Guṇas
काल: पचति भूतानि सर्वाण्येवात्मनात्मनि । यस्मिंस्तु पच्यते कालस्तं वेदेह न कश्नन
kālaḥ pacati bhūtāni sarvāṇy evātmanātmani | yasmiṁs tu pacyate kālas taṁ veda iha na kaścana ||
毗耶娑说：时间以自身之力，在自身之中“烹煮”一切众生——使之成熟而终至吞没。然而，连时间也在其中被“烹煮”的那一实在——超越时间、作为时间之极限者——此世无人能真知。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time governs and transforms all conditioned beings, but the Supreme Reality that transcends Time—within which Time itself is subject to a higher principle—remains unknowable to ordinary worldly cognition. The verse urges humility about human knowledge and points toward a transcendent ground beyond change.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa delivers a philosophical instruction: he uses the metaphor of ‘cooking’ to describe how Time ripens and consumes all beings, then contrasts this with the higher reality that even Time cannot surpass, emphasizing the limits of worldly understanding.