Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 3
Kāla-cakra and the Motions of the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Grahas
Bhāgavata Jyotiṣa Framework
स एष भगवानादिपुरुष एव साक्षान्नारायणो लोकानां स्वस्तय आत्मानं त्रयीमयं कर्मविशुद्धिनिमित्तं कविभिरपि च वेदेन विजिज्ञास्यमानो द्वादशधा विभज्य षट्सु वसन्तादिष्वृतुषु यथोपजोषमृतुगुणान् विदधाति ॥ ३ ॥
sa eṣa bhagavān ādi-puruṣa eva sākṣān nārāyaṇo lokānāṁ svastaya ātmānaṁ trayīmayaṁ karma-viśuddhi-nimittaṁ kavibhir api ca vedena vijijñāsyamāno dvādaśadhā vibhajya ṣaṭsu vasantādiṣv ṛtuṣu yathopa-joṣam ṛtu-guṇān vidadhāti.
The original cause of the cosmic manifestation is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa. When great saintly persons, fully aware of the Vedic knowledge, offered prayers to the Supreme Person, He descended to this material world in the form of the sun to benefit all the planets and purify fruitive activities. He divided Himself into twelve parts and created seasonal forms, beginning with spring. In this way He created the seasonal qualities, such as heat, cold and so on.
FAQs
This verse states that the original Supreme Person, directly Nārāyaṇa, divides His governance into twelve and establishes the qualities of the six seasons (beginning with spring) in proper order for the welfare of the worlds.
He emphasizes that the Lord manifests as the Vedic revelation itself, which guides beings in purified action (karma-viśuddhi) and is investigated by sages to understand the Lord’s cosmic order.
It encourages living in harmony with ṛta (divine order): aligning habits with natural cycles, practicing discipline that purifies work, and seeing time and nature as expressions of the Lord’s purposeful governance.