Chapter XI · Śloka 32
Śrī Kṛṣṇa uvāca
कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो
लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः |
ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वे
येऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः ||
लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः |
ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वे
येऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः ||
kālo 'smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddho
lokān samāhartum iha pravṛttaḥ |
ṛte 'pi tvāṃ na bhaviṣyanti sarve
ye 'vasthitāḥ pratyanīkeṣu yodhāḥ ||
lokān samāhartum iha pravṛttaḥ |
ṛte 'pi tvāṃ na bhaviṣyanti sarve
ye 'vasthitāḥ pratyanīkeṣu yodhāḥ ||
I am Time, the great destroyer of worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. Except for you, all the soldiers on both sides will be slain.
The most shattering self-declaration in the Gita: the divine identifies itself as Time itself, the irresistible force of dissolution. The warriors are already dead — their deaths exist in the future that has already been determined. Arjuna's role is only to be the instrument.