Shloka 9
राजधर्मः—राष्ट्ररक्षणं, दण्डनीतिः, हयग्रीवोपाख्यानम्
Royal Duty: Protection, Penal Policy, and the Hayagrīva Exemplum
कालेन कृष्णाश्न सिताश्न रात्र्य: कालेन चन्द्र: परिपूर्णबिम्ब: । नाकालत: पुष्पफल द्रुमाणां नाकालवेगा: सरितो वहन्ति
kālena kṛṣṇāś ca sitāś ca rātryaḥ kālena candraḥ paripūrṇa-bimbaḥ | nākālataḥ puṣpa-phala-drūmāṇāṃ nākāla-vegāḥ sarito vahanti ||
毗耶娑说：在适当的时节，才有黑夜与明夜；在适当的时节，月轮才圆满成满月。非其时，树木不生花果；非其时，江河亦不以其应有之势奔流。由是可知，一切果报皆由时与机缘而起——当以忍耐与明辨而行，不可躁进，亦不可违逆自然之序。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
That outcomes depend on kāla (right time/season). One should align effort with proper occasion; forcing action prematurely is fruitless, just as trees do not bear out of season and rivers do not surge at the wrong time.
Vyāsa instructs through natural analogies—night phases, the moon’s fullness, seasonal fruiting, and river flow—to counsel restraint and timely action within the broader Shanti Parva discourse on dharma and wise conduct.