Shloka 39
अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
यर्थर्तावृतुलिड्रानि नानारूपाणि पर्यये । दृश्यन्ते तानि तान्येव तथा भावा युगादिषु,जैसे ऋतुके आनेपर उसके फल-पुष्प आदि नाना प्रकारके चिह्न प्रकट होते हैं और ऋतु बीत जानेपर वे सब समाप्त हो जाते हैं उसी प्रकार कल्पका आरम्भ होनेपर पूर्ववत् वे-वे पदार्थ दृष्टिगोचर होने लगते हैं और कल्पके अन्तमें उनका लय हो जाता है
yathā ṛtāv ṛtuliṅgāni nānārūpāṇi paryaye | dṛśyante tāni tāny eva tathā bhāvā yugādiṣu ||
Just as, with the coming of a season, its distinctive signs appear in many forms, and when that season passes those signs subside, so too at the beginning of each age (yuga) the same states of existence become manifest again as before, and at the end they dissolve. The passage underscores the cyclical order of time: manifestation and dissolution recur according to cosmic law rather than personal whim.
Educational Q&A
Time moves in recurring cycles: just as seasonal signs arise and fade, the same patterns of existence manifest at the start of each yuga and dissolve at its end. The teaching emphasizes impermanence and the orderly, law-governed rhythm of creation and dissolution.
In the opening cosmological framing of the epic, the text explains how the world repeatedly appears and disappears across ages. The verse uses the familiar example of seasons to make the vast cycle of yugas and cosmic dissolution intelligible.