स एव बलवान् भूत्वा पुनर् भवति दुर्बलः ॥
स एवेशश् च भूत्वेह परैर् आज्ञाप्यते पुनः ॥
कृतकृत्यानि चास्त्राणि गतान्य् अद्य यथागतम् ॥
पुनर् एष्यन्ति ते हस्तं यदा कालो भविष्यति ॥
कालो गन्तुं गतिं मुख्यां भवताम् अपि भारत ॥
एतच् छ्रेयो हि वो मन्ये परमं भरतर्षभ ॥
एतद् वचनम् आज्ञाय व्यासस्यामिततेजसः ॥
अनुज्ञातो ययौ पार्थो नगरं नागसाह्वयम् ॥
प्रविश्य च पुरीं वीरः समासाद्य युधिष्ठिरम् ॥
आचष्ट तद् यथावृत्तं वृष्ण्यन्धकजनं प्रति ॥
sa eva balavān bhūtvā punar bhavati durbalaḥ ||
sa eveśaś ca bhūtveha parair ājñāpyate punaḥ ||
kṛtakṛtyāni cāstrāṇi gatāny adya yathāgatam ||
punar eṣyanti te hastaṃ yadā kālo bhaviṣyati ||
kālo gantuṃ gatiṃ mukhyāṃ bhavatām api bhārata ||
etac chreyo hi vo manye paramaṃ bharatarṣabha ||
etad vacanam ājñāya vyāsasyāmitatejasaḥ ||
anujñāto yayau pārtho nagaraṃ nāgasāhvayam ||
praviśya ca purīṃ vīraḥ samāsādya yudhiṣṭhiram ||
ācaṣṭa tad yathāvṛttaṃ vṛṣṇyandhakajanaṃ prati ||
He who has become strong again becomes weak; he who has become a ruler here is again commanded by others. The weapons, having accomplished their work, have departed now as they came; they will come again into your hand when the time arrives. The time has come for you too, O Bharata, to walk the supreme path — this I consider the highest good for you, O bull of the Bharatas. Having received this word of Vyasa of immeasurable radiance, Partha was dismissed and departed for the city named after the Elephant. And, having entered the city, the hero approached Yudhishthira and related all that had come to pass concerning the people of the Vrishnis and Andhakas.
d18fce109a61 · published Jun 21, 2026, 1:40:00 AM UTC
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Vyasa concludes his instruction with consolation about what is immovable: the departed weapons "will come again into the hand when the time arrives," for in the revolution of Time nothing is lost without return. And he points the Pandavas to their own appointed hour — "the time to walk the supreme path." Thus the book, which began with destruction, closes not with despair but with the pointing of a way: after the Lord's departure follows the destined departure of His devotees in His wake. The verse teaches that in the alternation of the strong and the weak, the ruler and the ruled, the single law of Time manifests itself — and what is lost returns in its hour, so there is no place for pride in strength or despair in weakness; and that for the devotee, the highest good is to set forth "on the supreme path" in the appointed season, following the Lord who has departed, for toward Him leads both the beginning and the end of every path.