Shloka 5
The Orbit of the Sun, the Measure of Day and Night, and the Sun-God’s Chariot
यदा वृश्चिकादिषु पञ्चसु वर्तते तदाहोरात्राणि विपर्ययाणि भवन्ति ॥ ५ ॥
yadā vṛścikādiṣu pañcasu vartate tadāho-rātrāṇi viparyayāṇi bhavanti.
When the sun passes through the five signs beginning with Vṛścika (Scorpio), the pattern of day and night is reversed: the days diminish and the nights increase, and thereafter the balance gradually returns.
FAQs
In 5.21.5, Śukadeva explains that when the sun moves through five zodiacal signs beginning with Scorpio, the relative lengths of day and night become reversed—shifting in opposing ways depending on location and season.
He is teaching Parīkṣit Mahārāja the Bhagavatam’s cosmology—how time, seasons, and celestial movements are arranged under the Lord’s governance, helping the listener see divine order behind material phenomena.
It encourages a devotional worldview: observing natural cycles (time, seasons) as regulated order rather than randomness, fostering humility and remembrance of the Supreme Controller behind cosmic rhythms.