कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः। ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वे येऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः॥

Meaning

Spoken in the cosmic eleventh chapter during the vision of the universal form, this verse contains Krishna self-revelation as Time itself, mighty and unstoppable, engaged in the dissolution of worlds. The image is at once terrifying and liberating. To Arjuna trembling on the chariot, Krishna declares that the warriors arrayed for battle have in truth already been struck down by time; Arjuna is merely the instrument through which an inevitability will manifest. The Sanskrit phrase kalo asmi, I am time, became one of the most quoted lines of the entire Mahabharata, summarizing the Hindu intuition that creation, sustenance, and dissolution are not three accidents but three faces of one supreme reality. The verse does not advocate violence; it dissolves the warrior delusion of personal agency. By recognizing that all action unfolds within a vaster pattern, Arjuna is freed from both pride in victory and guilt in destruction. Commentators caution that the teaching is meant for one already established in dharma, not as a license for indifference, but as the inner clarity that allows the dharmic actor to perform his duty without anxiety over results.