Bhagavatapurana 3.11: athaikādaśo'dhyāyaḥ

3.11.1

/0 maitreya uvāca
caramaḥ sad-viśeṣāṇām aneko 'saṃyutaḥ sadā /
paramāṇuḥ sa vijñeyo nṛṇām aikya-bhramo yataḥ //

Maitreya said: / The ultimate indivisible unit of existing particulars, manifold and ever uncombined, / is to be known as the paramāṇu, from which arises men's illusion of unity.

Maitreya said:—That should be known as a Paramanu or an atom which is the last and the least particle of the parts into which a gross product may be divided, and which is not one, i.e., which has not attained to the state of being an effect, or being a group, which always remains uncombined with another. Only with reference to the accumulation of such particles or atoms do men have the illusory notion of an organic whole.

3.11.2

sata eva padārthasya svarūpāvasthitasya yat /
kaivalyaṃ parama-mahān aviśeṣo nirantaraḥ //

The absolute state of substance existing in its own intrinsic nature / is the supreme great, undivided and continuous.

2. The entirety of matter in its essence which remains the same without undergoing (change) of dimension constitutes the universal dimension when the notion of parts or of differences is left out of consideration.

3.11.3

evaṃ kālo 'py anumitaḥ saukṣmye sthaulye ca sattama /
saṃsthāna-bhuktyā bhagavān avyakto vyakta-bhug vibhuḥ //

In this way Time also is inferred in subtlety and grossness, O best of men, / by its measuring of positions; the unmanifest Lord experiences the manifest, being all-pervading.

3. O, best of the righteous, even Time is similarly known by inference both in its gross and subtle forms. It is the Sakti (of Hari), by itself unmanifest, pervading and limiting the Vyakta, the gross creation, and it is powerful enough to bring about the creation and other conditions of the world.

Verse 3. *V.* As in things limited by time, the smallest division of time and the greatest or the longest period of time are as a matter of inference in relation to the condition of the thing limited by it (expressed in the terms of Time). It is pervaded and ruled by the Lord, itself very subtle and unmanifest and yet the powerful cause of the modification constituting the manifest objects.

*D.* Similarly, (the present) Time also is perceived by men, in both its aspects as the smallest division and as all-encompassing Time., and the all-pervading Lord as the Antaryamin of Time in both the aspects, and being Himself unmanifest is thought of as Paramanu in form or as omnipresent; and he creates, preserves and destroys the manifest world in relation to that Time—The word being taken अव्यक्तभुक् the meaning is "He who gives Prakriti impetus to proceed with creation &c."

3.11.4

sa kālaḥ paramāṇur vai yo bhuṅkte paramāṇutām /
sato 'viśeṣa-bhug yas tu sa kālaḥ paramo mahān //

That time which passes through the measure of a paramāṇu is called a paramāṇu; / while that which traverses the undivided whole of existence is supreme, great time.

Verse 4. *V.* Considered in its aspect of a smallest division, Time may be said to be *Paramanu*; The gross form of the Time (as a year) in the subtlest state is the longest aspect of it. *D.* That time and the Antaryamin Hari are spoken of as *Paramanu*. For both are in relation to the smallest part of substance described in the first verse. The Time and the Antaryamin of Time realise the changeless, essential, unlimited nature of Brahman and both are Parama-Mahat, the infinitely great.

3.11.5

aṇur dvau paramāṇū syāt trasareṇus trayaḥ smṛtaḥ /
jālārka-raśmy-avagataḥ kham evānupatann agāt //

Two paramāṇus make an aṇu, and three [aṇus] are known as a trasareṇu; / it is perceived in rays of sunlight through a lattice, floating up into the sky.

Verse 5. *V. Note.* by the term Trasarenu, (the smallest visible particle of substance) similar subtle division of Time is denoted. *D.* Here *anu* and other terms must be taken as indicative of the divisions of Time. Also it should be remembered that the Supreme Being is present in all these divisions of time ruling the things connected with, it bearing the same names and realising His unlimited and unconditioned self and infinite blisfulness.

3.11.6

trasareṇu-trikaṃ bhuṅkte yaḥ kālaḥ sa truṭiḥ smṛtaḥ /
śata-bhāgas tu vedhaḥ syāt tais tribhis tu lavaḥ smṛtaḥ //

The time that passes through three trasareṇus is known as a truṭi; / a hundredth part of that is a vedha, and three of those are remembered as a lava.

3.11.7

nimeṣas tri-lavo jñeya āmnātas te trayaḥ kṣaṇaḥ /
kṣaṇān pañca viduḥ kāṣṭhāṃ laghu tā daśa pañca ca //

A nimeṣa should be known as three lavas, and three of these are traditionally called a kṣaṇa; / five kṣaṇas they know as a kāṣṭhā, and fifteen of them make a laghu.

3.11.8

laghūni vai samāmnātā daśa pañca ca nāḍikā /
te dve muhūrtaḥ praharaḥ ṣaḍ yāmaḥ sapta vā nṛṇām //

Fifteen laghus indeed are declared to be a nāḍikā; / two of these make a muhūrta, and six or seven [nāḍikās] make a prahara, or yāma, for men.

Verse 8. *V.* Here the measure of Time according to men is intended; hence it is said नॄणाम् *D.* the six Nadikas make one Prahara and seven make one Yama (याम) 9. A measure of capacity made of copper weighing 6 pollums, the sides being 4 times 4 inches high with holes made at the bottom by gold mashas,—the time taken by water to fill that vessel through those holes is said to be a Nadika.

3.11.9

dvādaśārdha-palonmānaṃ caturbhiś catur-aṅgulaiḥ /
svarṇa-māṣaiḥ kṛta-cchidraṃ yāvat prastha-jala-plutam //

A vessel of six palas’ weight, pierced by a gold tube of four finger-breadths / weighing four māṣas, which sinks when filled by a prastha of water [measures a nāḍikā].

3.11.10

yāmāś catvāraś catvāro martyānām ahanī ubhe /
pakṣaḥ pañca-daśāhāni śuklaḥ kṛṣṇaś ca mānada //

Four yāmas each make the day and night of mortals; / fifteen days make a fortnight, both light and dark, O respectful one.

10. 11. The day and night of men consist of four Yamas each and a fortnight consists of fifteen such days and there are two such fortnights known as bright and dark. O Respected Vidura-these two together make a month which is a whole day of day and night for Pitris—Two such months make a season or Rutu and six months make an Ayana which is distinguished as the Southern and the Northern corresponding to the apparent course of the sun in the sky towards the north aud south of the equator.

3.11.11

tayoḥ samuccayo māsaḥ pitṝṇāṃ tad ahar-niśam /
dvau tāv ṛtuḥ ṣaḍ ayanaṃ dakṣiṇaṃ cottaraṃ divi //

The combination of these two is a month, which is a day and night for the ancestors; / two of those make a season, and six [months] an ayana in the sky, southern and northern.

3.11.12

ayane cāhanī prāhur vatsaro dvādaśa smṛtaḥ /
saṃvatsara-śataṃ n-ṇāṃ paramāyur nirūpitam //

The two ayanas are said to be a day and a night [of the gods]; twelve [months] are known as a year; / one hundred years is determined to be the maximum lifespan of men.

12. The two ayanas are the day aud night of the gods in swarga and they are said to make a year comprising twelve months. A hundred years form the full period of human life as observed by the wise.

3.11.13

graharkṣa-tārā-cakra-sthaḥ paramāṇv-ādinā jagat /
saṃvatsarāvasānena paryety animiṣo vibhuḥ //

Abiding in the wheel of planets, lunar mansions, and stars, the sleepless, all-pervading [Lord] / traverses the universe by measures beginning with the paramāṇu and ending with the year.

13. The powerful deity Surya is the embodiment of Time and he occupies the Kalachakra (the sphere of Time) consisting of the planets, Asvini and other constellations and stars in general and goes round the world embraced by the twelve signs of the zodiac in a period of time beginning with the atomic division of time and ending with the year.

3.11.14

saṃvatsaraḥ parivatsara iḍā-vatsara eva ca /
anuvatsaro vatsaraś ca viduraivaṃ prabhāṣyate //

It is spoken of thus, O Vidura: the saṃvatsara, the parivatsara, / the iḍāvatsara, the anuvatsara, and the vatsara.

14. O Vidura, the year is spoken of in five ways as Samvatsara, Parivatsara, Idavatsara, Anuvatsara and Vatsara calculated on the revolutions made by the Sun, Jupiter etc.

3.11.14.p1

yaḥ sṛjya-śaktim urudhocchvasayan sva-śaktyā $ puṃso 'bhramāya divi dhāvati bhūta-bhedaḥ &

He who, animating the creative power manifoldly by his own power, traverses the sky to remove the confusion of men, / distributing the elements,

15. O men, bear your offerings to the God Surya, who is the author of these five kinds of years, who by his own power in

the form of time unfolds the powers of things to develope into grosser farms, who is a great and powerful Being (in the form of a luminary) making his circuit through the skies for ridding men of misapprehensions and extending (increasing) the fruits of Gunas, viz., the attainment of Swarga and other things by means of sacrifices.

3.11.15

kālākhyayā guṇamayaṃ kratubhir vitanvaṃs % tasmai baliṃ harata vatsara-pañcakāya //

expanding the world of guṇas by sacrifices under the name of Time— / to that five-year cycle offer your oblations.

3.11.16

/0 vidura uvāca
pitṛ-deva-manuṣyāṇām āyuḥ param idaṃ smṛtam /
pareṣāṃ gatim ācakṣva ye syuḥ kalpād bahir vidaḥ //

Vidura said: / This maximum lifespan of ancestors, gods, and men has been remembered; / tell of the course of those beyond, the knowers who exist outside the kalpa.

16. Vidura said :—The full measure of life-time has been thus given in the case of the Pitris, the gods and men; please tell me the course of those others who are the wise men dwelling beyond the three worlds.

3.11.17

bhagavān veda kālasya gatiṃ bhagavato nanu /
viśvaṃ vicakṣate dhīrā yoga-rāddhena cakṣuṣā //

You, lord, surely know the movement of the Lord's time; / the wise perceive the universe through the eye accomplished in yoga.

17. Indeed thy worshipful self knows the course of the all powerful Time and the wise are able to see everything with their eye developed by yoga.

3.11.18

/0 maitreya uvāca
kṛtaṃ tretā dvāparaṃ ca kaliś ceti catur-yugam /
divyair dvādaśabhir varṣaiḥ sāvadhānaṃ nirūpitam //

Maitreya said: / The four ages are Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali; / together with their twilights, they are calculated as twelve thousand celestial years.

18. Maitreya said:—The yugas are four, viz, Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali and they consist of twelve thousand years of celestial measure including the transition periods between every two yugas.

3.11.19

catvāri trīṇi dve caikaṃ kṛtādiṣu yathā-kramam /
saṅkhyātāni sahasrāṇi dvi-guṇāni śatāni ca //

Four, three, two, and one thousand [divine years], respectively, / are counted for Kṛta and the subsequent [ages], along with twice that number of hundreds [for their twilights].

19 & 20. The yugas respectively consist of four thousands, three thousands, two thousands, and one thousand years; the transition periods at the beginning and the end also respectively consist of eight hundreds, six hundreds, four hundreds and two hundreds of years; and the wise who know the fact call that a yuga which is between the transition periods counted by hundreds and only in relation to such yugas Dharma is laid down in the Holy books.

3.11.20

sandhyā-sandhyāṃśayor antar yaḥ kālaḥ śata-saṅkhyayoḥ /
tam evāhur yugaṃ taj-jñā yatra dharmo vidhīyate //

The period between dawn and twilight, numbering in the hundreds [of years],
that alone those who know of it call an age, wherein dharma is ordained.

3.11.21

dharmaś catuṣ-pān manujān kṛte samanuvartate /
sa evānyeṣv adharmeṇa vyeti pādena vardhatā //

Four-footed dharma attends upon human beings in the Kṛta age;
that very [dharma] departs by a foot in each subsequent [age] due to increasing adharma.

21. In the Krita Yuga Dharma accompanies men on all his four feet, *i.e.*, in entirety and the same Dharma becomes diminished by a foot in each of the other Yugas as Adharma increases.

3.11.22

tri-lokyā yuga-sāhasraṃ bahir ābrahmaṇo dinam /
tāvaty eva niśā tāta yan nimīlati viśva-sṛk //

Beyond the three worlds, a thousand cycles of four ages constitutes a day of Brahmā;
just as long is his night, dear one, when the creator of the universe closes his eyes.

22. Beyond the three worlds as far as the region of Brahma a thousand Chatur Yugas make a day, O beloved Vidura; night also is of the same length when Brahma the maker shuts his eyes and sleeps.

3.11.23

niśāvasāna ārabdho loka-kalpo 'nuvartate /
yāvad dinaṃ bhagavato manūn bhuñjaṃś catur-daśa //

Begun at the end of the night, the cosmic cycle of the world continues
for the duration of the day of the Lord, encompassing fourteen Manus.

23. At the end of the night the work of the world is begun

and continued, and it extends all over the day of Brahma and comprises the period of the fourteen Manus.

3.11.24

svaṃ svaṃ kālaṃ manur bhuṅkte sādhikāṃ hy eka-saptatim /
manvantareṣu manavas tad-vaṃśyā ṛṣayaḥ surāḥ /
bhavanti caiva yugapat sureśāś cānu ye ca tān //

Each Manu enjoys his own span of time for a little more than seventy-one [cycles];
in each manvantara, the Manus, their descendants, the sages, and the gods
come into being simultaneously, along with the rulers of the gods and their followers.

24. Each Manu enjoys the power during the period alloted to him, which is a little over seventy-one Chatur Yugas. During the Manvantaras the several Manus, their descendants, the Rishis, the great gods and their attendants are all born together.

3.11.25

eṣa dainan-dinaḥ sargo brāhmas trailokya-vartanaḥ /
tiryaṅ-nṛ-pitṛ-devānāṃ sambhavo yatra karmabhiḥ //

This is the daily creation of Brahmā, which maintains the three worlds,
wherein the birth of animals, humans, ancestors, and gods occurs according to their past deeds.

25. This is called the daily creation of Brahma by which the three worlds are made to get on with their work, and during which, beasts and birds, men, the Pitris and the gods are born by force of their karma.

3.11.26

manvantareṣu bhagavān bibhrat sattvaṃ sva-mūrtibhiḥ /
manv-ādibhir idaṃ viśvam avaty udita-pauruṣaḥ //

In the manvantaras, the Lord, assuming purity through his own forms
such as the Manus, protects this universe, manifesting his prowess.

26. During the Manvantaras the Almighty Lord assumes the Satva Guna, and by His avataras as Manu and others in the human form, He protects this universe displaying His energy.

3.11.27

tamo-mātrām upādāya pratisaṃruddha-vikramaḥ /
kālenānugatāśeṣa āste tūṣṇīṃ dinātyaye //

Assuming only the quality of darkness, his active power withdrawn,
he remains silent at the close of the day, having gathered in all things through Time.

27. At the end of such a day He slightly associates Himself with Tamas and withdraws His own active aspect and remains quiet, all other things having entered Him by force of time.

3.11.28

tam evānv api dhīyante lokā bhūr-ādayas trayaḥ /
niśāyām anuvṛttāyāṃ nirmukta-śaśi-bhāskaram //

Following him, the three worlds beginning with the earth are also concealed
when the night sets in, stripped of the moon and the sun.

28. Following Him, the three worlds Bhur, Bhuva and Suvas lie concealed, when the night without the sun or the moon sets in.

3.11.29

tri-lokyāṃ dahyamānāyāṃ śaktyā saṅkarṣaṇāgninā /
yānty ūṣmaṇā maharlokāj janaṃ bhṛgv-ādayo 'rditāḥ //

When the three worlds are scorched by the fire from Saṅkarṣaṇa's potency,
Bhṛgu and the other sages, distressed by the heat, depart from Maharloka to Janaloka.

29. When the three worlds are being burnt by the fire of Sankarshana which is His own power, Bhrigu and other sages afflicted with its heat go at once from the Maharloka to Janoloka.

3.11.30

tāvat tri-bhuvanaṃ sadyaḥ kalpāntaidhita-sindhavaḥ /
plāvayanty utkaṭāṭopa- caṇḍa-vāteritormayaḥ //

Then all at once the oceans, swollen at the end of the kalpa,
inundate the three worlds with waves driven by fierce winds of violent fury.

30. At this time, the seas overflow under the force of the time of pralaya with waves tossed high by extremely furious and fearful blasts of wind, and soon immerse the three worlds in water.

3.11.31

antaḥ sa tasmin salila āste 'nantāsano hariḥ /
yoga-nidrā-nimīlākṣaḥ stūyamāno janālayaiḥ //

Within those waters Hari rests upon the serpent Ananta,
his eyes closed in the sleep of yoga, while being praised by the inhabitants of Janaloka.

31. But Hari alone remains in the midst of the waters lying on the serpent Ananta, with His eyes shut in yoga nidra, being sung by those that dwell in Janoloka.

3.11.32

evaṃ-vidhair aho-rātraiḥ kāla-gatyopalakṣitaiḥ /
apakṣitam ivāsyāpi paramāyur vayaḥ-śatam //

By such days and nights, marked by the passage of Time,
even his maximum lifespan of one hundred years is reckoned as waning.

32. Thus with the lapse of days and nights indicated by the course of Time, even the full lease of his (Brahma's) life viz, the period of a hundred years, is, as it were, wasted away (seems to be soon spent).

3.11.33

yad ardham āyuṣas tasya parārdham abhidhīyate /
pūrvaḥ parārdho 'pakrānto hy aparo 'dya pravartate //

Half of his life is termed a parārdha;
the first parārdha has indeed passed away, and the second is now underway.

33. One-half of Brahma's life is called Parardha and the first half is gone and the other half is now running.

3.11.34

pūrvasyādau parārdhasya brāhmo nāma mahān abhūt /
kalpo yatrābhavad brahmā śabda-brahmeti yaṃ viduḥ //

At the beginning of the first parārdha occurred the great kalpa called Brāhma,
in which Brahmā appeared, whom they know as the Vedas.

34. In the beginning of the first half there was a great kalpa called Brahma-kalpa, when Brahma was born, whom the wise call Sabda-Brahma.

3.11.35

tasyaiva cānte kalpo 'bhūd yaṃ pādmam abhicakṣate /
yad dharer nābhi-sarasa āsīl loka-saroruham //

And at the end of that very [first parārdha] occurred the kalpa they call Pādma,
in which the world-lotus arose from the lake of Hari's navel.

35. And towards the end of the first Parardha there was another Kalpa which the wise call Padma-kalpa, when the world-lotus sprang from the navel of Hari as from a lake.

3.11.36

ayaṃ tu kathitaḥ kalpo dvitīyasyāpi bhārata /
vārāha iti vikhyāto yatrāsīc chūkaro hariḥ //

This kalpa of the second [parārdha] is related, O descendant of Bharata,
as renowned by the name Vārāha, wherein Hari became a boar.

36. And, O Vidura, the present kalpa forming part of the second Parardha is known as Varaha, when Sri Hari made an avatar as Varaha, (the Boar).

3.11.37

kālo 'yaṃ dvi-parārdhākhyo nimeṣa upacaryate /
avyākṛtasyānantasya hy anāder jagad-ātmanaḥ //

This duration of time called two parārdhas is considered merely a blinking of the eye
of the unmanifest, endless, and beginningless Self of the universe.

37. This period of Time described as the two halves of Brahma's day is but a wink of Paramatman, the cause of the world, who is unmanifest and unlimited and has no beginning.

3.11.38

kālo 'yaṃ paramāṇv-ādir dvi-parārdhānta īśvaraḥ /
naiveśituṃ prabhur bhūmna īśvaro dhāma-māninām //

This Time, which begins with the atomic unit and ends with two parārdhas, though a master,
is not capable of ruling over the Supreme Lord, though it rules those proud of their bodies.

38. The time which is conceived as an atom to start with and considered as the two halves or Parārdhas at the end of (our) reckoning is a ruling Power, but not in respect of the Supreme Being, and it is only such in respect of beings that have an attachment to the perishable body and its belongings.

3.11.39

vikāraiḥ sahito yuktair viśeṣādibhir āvṛtaḥ /
āṇḍakośo bahir ayaṃ pañcāśat-koṭi-vistṛtaḥ //

Together with its transformations and joined with the gross elements and their sources,
this cosmic egg is enveloped on the outside, spanning five hundred million [yojanas].

39. This (Egg of) universe comprised of the sixteen Vikāras or modifications and the eight Prakṛitis is fifty crores of Yojanas in breadth in the interior, and on the outside it is surrounded by seven sheaths of the earth and other Bhutas.

3.11.40

daśottarādhikair yatra praviṣṭaḥ paramāṇuvat /
lakṣyate 'ntar-gatāś cānye koṭiśo hy aṇḍa-rāśayaḥ //

Surrounded by envelopes ten times larger successively, wherein [this universe],
entered like an atom, is perceived, and within which are myriads of other universes.

40. These sheaths are each ten times bigger than the one which each surrounds and crores of other Aṇḍas are also seen within them, (while our Aṇḍa) seems but an atom in it.

3.11.41

tad āhur akṣaraṃ brahma sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam /
viṣṇor dhāma paraṃ sākṣāt puruṣasya mahātmanaḥ //

That they call the imperishable Brahman, the cause of all causes,
the supreme abode of Viṣṇu, who is directly the Supreme Person of great self.

41. The wise say that Brahman, the cause of all causes, is called Akshara. It is the only essence, the supreme essence of Vishnu, the Glorious and Supreme Purusha.