Mudgalapurana 3.15: kālagativarṇanaṃ nāma pañcadaśo'dhyāyaḥ

Salutation to glorious Gaṇeśa.

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / The wondrous form of māyā has been described particularly by you two; / having heard it, I am filled with satisfaction and greatly delighted.

The form of māyā has not been comprehended by me in its entirety, O lords; / therefore tell it to me in detail, O best of yogins:

the division of the classes and stages of life endowed with their respective proper conduct, / the measure of the yugas, O twice-born, and especially the dharmas of the yugas;

the path of action, granting true satisfaction, of the ancestors, gods, and Asuras; / and the entire history of the kings born of the Sun and the Moon.

Relate these topics of inquiry, O two best of sages, / so that knowledge of dualities and other matters will arise in me.

Bhānu said: / Having been thus questioned, the two illustrious sages, Nara and Nārāyaṇa, / filled with compassion, spoke to that ascetic Mārkaṇḍeya.

Nara and Nārāyaṇa said: / You have questioned well, O fortunate one; we two will tell you everything, / by which knowledge of the deeds of māyā becomes unwavering.

The time consisting of just a twinkling of the eye is equal to a short syllable; / and by fifteen twinkling of the eyes, the measure of a kāṣṭhā is declared.

By thirty kāṣṭhās, thus, the time of a kalā is produced; / by thirty kalās, one muhūrta is proclaimed.

By the measure of thirty muhūrtas, a day and night is considered; / by thirty of those, O twice-born, the time named a month arises.

A month has the form of two fortnights, divided into the light and the dark; / and by twelve months a complete year is produced.

By two of these [months] a season is declared; and with six seasons, / it is named the measure of a year, as declared by those who know time.

In this way, from the twinkling of an eye and so on, time extends up to the year; / (

Section 3, Chapter 15, Page 31) endowed with various states, it reveals the nature of time.

Time having the nature of a year is proclaimed to be fivefold: / the first is declared as Saṃvatsara, the second Parivatsara,

the third is Iḍāvatsara, the fourth is Anuvatsara, / and Vatsara—these are the five; hear their course, O sage.

The conjunction of limbs and minor limbs is brought about by time alone; / and the fire residing in the belly swiftly accomplishes everything.

The origin of the body, its maintenance, and its destruction are proclaimed [to be caused by it]; / everything is produced by time; that fire is remembered as Saṃvatsara.

This is the principal form among the five, the promoter of time and action; / residing within the body, this great yogin is declared to be time by the wise.

This Sun, embodying time, is named Parivatsara, O sage; / by his nature of solstices and the like, he is remembered as the driver of time.

In the rainy, cold, and hot seasons, through the succession of seasons, months, and so forth, / he operates the law of time and illuminates it constantly.

Named Iḍāvatsara, the moon is proclaimed by the wise; / and he becomes the mover of the stars, lunar mansions, and so on.

He produces knowledge of time for the ancestors; of this there is no doubt. / In the progression of time, this Soma holds nectar through his rays.

Through his rays, he reveals the essence of plants in time; / in time he grants the drinking of nectar to the gods.

Named Anuvatsara, the wind is recited everywhere, / the mover through states such as prāṇa and apāna, fulfilling desires.

With rims such as Āvaha and Pravaha, he moves the multitude of celestial lights / in time, knowing time and bearing the form of time.

Bearing the form of Rudra, the vatsara time shines forth. / When the great dissolution occurs, the plants have gone to dissolution;

Thereupon, according to the measure of time, Tryambaka once again, / established in time, becomes the creator of the plants.

Gāyatrī, Jagatī, and Triṣṭubh are recalled by the name Ambikā; / united with these threefold [metres], through his own potency,

the plants are created again by Rudra through time. / Thus, by means of the nature of time, the Lord brings the universe into being.

He who thus knows the fivefold time according to its essential nature / never experiences the suffering born of the state of time.

Now hear specifically the measure of time, O brahmin sage: / An ayana is said to be of two kinds, consisting of six months.

That very [period] is declared to be a single day of the deities; / and the day is celebrated as consisting of the northern transit.

The night of theirs is proclaimed to consist of the southern transit. / In this way, by thirty [such days and nights], a month is described, O great sage;

and by twelve months, their year is proclaimed. / Thus everywhere, O foremost of brahmins, the time-born form is to be understood.

The bright fortnight is the night, and the dark fortnight is the day; / this time brings happiness to the ancestors: a day consists of a month.

And the months are said to be of two kinds according to rule: solar and lunar. / By the transit of the sun a month comes to be, remembered as born of the sun.

On the full-moon day the moon is seen full by the worlds; / with that as the basis, a month is to be understood by lunar measure.

Or on the new-moon day, when the moon is waned, it is understood by the wise. / The lunar month, O brahmin, is proclaimed to be of two kinds.

We shall state the reason for that; hear, for the sake of attaining the true meaning: / (

[Khaṇḍa 3, Adhyāya 16, page 32] Likewise, an intercalary month and a decayed month, consisting of impurity, [are known] by people.

On the new-moon day it is known by the sign of the moon, never otherwise; / for bathing, the greatness of the month [is observed] especially on the full-moon day.

By the sign of the moon it is always to be understood by the wise, O brahmin sage; / moreover, the time of the ancestors comes to be by the lunar month.

The drinking of nectar in heaven by gods and ancestors is proclaimed; / when full, it consists of the digits of the moon; it does not occur in a lunar month [alone].

In the day of the gods, time comes to be by the sign of the sun; / and the movement of the bright and dark [fortnights] is proclaimed to be the cause.

Three thousand years according to human reckoning, / plus thirty, is considered the year of the Seven Sages.

Nine thousand years according to human reckoning, / plus another ninety, is remembered as the year of the Pole Star.

Thus the measure of time that has been told to you, O best of the twice-born, / is bound with death, ever wandering, and to be understood as endowed with duality.

Om tat sat. Thus ends the fifteenth chapter, named ‘Description of the Course of Time,’ in the narrative of Mahodara in the third section of the glorious and supreme Purāṇopaniṣad, the glorious Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa.