Devanagari
अहो महच्चित्रमिदं कालगत्या दुरत्यया ।
आरुरुक्षत्युपानद् वै शिरो मुकुटसेवितम् ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
aho mahac citram idaṁ
kāla-gatyā duratyayā
ārurukṣaty upānad vai
śiro mukuṭa-sevitam
Synonyms
aho
—
oh
;
mahat
—
great
;
citram
—
wonder
;
idam
—
this
;
kāla
—
of time
;
gatyā
—
by the movement
;
duratyayā
—
unavoidable
;
ārurakṣati
—
wants to climb on top
;
upānat
—
a shoe
;
vai
—
indeed
;
śiraḥ
—
the head
;
mukuṭa
—
with a crown
;
sevitam
—
ornamented .
Translation
[The Kuru nobles said:] Oh, how amazing this is! The force of time is indeed insurmountable: a lowly shoe now wants to climb on the head that bears the royal crown.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
[The Kuru nobles said:] Oh, how amazing this is! The force of time is indeed insurmountable: a lowly shoe now wants to climb on the head that bears the royal crown.
KB 10.68.24
“Oh! These words are very astonishing but quite befitting the Age of Kali; otherwise how could Balarāma speak so vituperatively? The language and tone used by Balarāma are simply abusive, and due to the influence of this age it appears that the shoes befitting the feet want to rise to the top of the head, where the helmet is worn.
Purport
By the words
kāla-gatyā duratyayā,
“the insurmountable movement of time,” the intolerant Kurus allude to the degraded Age of Kali, which was about to begin. Here the Kurus indicate that the fallen Age of Kali had indeed already begun, since they claim that now “the shoe wants to climb on the head that bears the royal crown.” In other words, they thought that the lowly Yadus now wanted to rise above the royal Kurus.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
How astonishing! The movement of time is insurmountable (kala gatya duratyaya). Leather shoe wants to climb on the head, even on a head with a crown.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
How amazing (aho)! But this is not surprising. Time cannot be overcome. This pride is impossible to avoid.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Aho indicates astonishment. By the force of insurmountable time something astonishing as happened. What is impossible has happened! Even (vai) the shoe wants to climb on the head, served by the crown.