Time takes everything

lelihyase grasamānaḥ samantāl- lokānsamagrānvadanairjvaladbhiḥtejobhirāpūrya jagatsamagraṃ bhāsastavogrāḥ pratapanti viṣṇo

On every side You draw in all the worlds with blazing mouths. Your fierce light fills the universe and burns it, Vishnu.

What it means

Arjuna sees Krishna drawing every world in, from every side. His fierce radiance fills and scorches the universe. It's an image of time, which eventually takes everything. Empires, mountains, stars. It isn't malice. It's the nature of a universe where everything born must one day return.

The story

Arjuna now sees the full sweep. Not only these armies, but every world, held and finally reabsorbed. His own small fears are swept into a vastly larger picture.

In your life

Think of ancient ruins, a once-great city now quiet stones. Time took it all. Let that loosen your grip on small worries. What will matter in a hundred years?