Shloka 32
स वत्सर: स ऋतुः सो<र्धमास: सोडहोरात्र: स कला वै स काष्ठा: । मात्रा मुहूर्ताश्च लवा: क्षणाश्र विष्वक्सेन: सर्वमेतत् प्रतीहि
sa vatsaraḥ sa ṛtuḥ so 'rdhamāsaḥ so 'harorātraḥ sa kalā vai sa kāṣṭhāḥ | mātrā muhūrtāś ca lavāḥ kṣaṇāś ca viśvaksenaḥ sarvam etat pratīhi ||
Bhishma said: Know that the Lord—Viśvaksena—is Himself the year and the seasons, the half-month and the cycle of day and night; He is the kalā and the kāṣṭhā, and likewise the mātrā, the muhūrta, the lava, and the kṣaṇa. Understand all measures of time as nothing other than His manifestation.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
All divisions of time—from the year down to the briefest instant—are to be contemplated as manifestations of the Supreme Lord (Viśvaksena). This frames time itself as sacred and governed by divine order, encouraging reverence and steady dharmic conduct within every moment.
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Anuśāsana Parva, he teaches a devotional-theological vision: the Lord pervades and constitutes the very structure by which beings measure life—seasons, days, and minute time-units—so the listener should recognize the divine presence in the flow of time.