Bhagavad Gita 11.32 · Krishna
I am Time
कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो
लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः।
ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वे
येऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः॥
śrībhagavānuvācakālo’asmi lokakṣayakṛtpravṛddho lokānsamāhartumiha pravṛttaḥṛte’api tvāṃ na bhaviṣyanti sarve ye’avasthitāḥ pratyanīkeṣu yodhāḥ
I am Time, grown vast, the ender of worlds, here to draw them in. Even without you, none of these warriors facing you will remain.
Words
- kāla
What it means
The physicist Oppenheimer recalled this verse after the first atomic test. But Krishna's word is kala, which means Time, and the end that time brings. Time ends all worlds. Even without you, Krishna says, these warriors will pass. This is awe, not cruelty. Everything that is born, time draws back in.
The story
Arjuna asked who Krishna is. Krishna answers, I am Time. Arjuna had thought he alone decided who lives and dies. Now he learns that time was already moving. His role is smaller, and freer, than he feared.
In your life
Think of someone agonising over whether they could have saved a sick parent. Time was always moving. Release yourself from what was never yours to control. Do your part with love.
Time moves all things. Do your part with love.