Shloka 142
रुद्र-स्तवराजः (Rudra-Stavarāja) — Exempla of Śiva’s Boons and the Hymn’s Phalaśruti
कला: काष्ठा लवा मात्रा मुहूर्ताहःक्षपा: क्षणा: । विश्वेक्षेत्र प्रजाबीज॑ लिड्रमाद्यस्तु निर्गम:,९१० कला:, ९११ काष्ठा:, ९१२ लवा:, ९१३ मात्रा:--(इत्यादि कालावयवस्वरूप), ९१४ मुहूर्ताह:क्षपा:--मुहूर्त, दिन और रात्रिरूप, ९१५ क्षणा:--क्षणरूप, ९१६ विश्वेक्षेत्रमू--ब्रह्माण्डरूपी वृक्षेके आधार, ९१७ प्रजाबीजम्--प्रजाओंके कारणरूप, ९१८ लिज्रम--महत्तत््वस्वरूप, ९१९ आद्यो निर्गमम:--सबसे पहले प्रकट होनेवाले
vāyudeva uvāca | kalāḥ kāṣṭhā lavā mātrā muhūrtāhaḥkṣapāḥ kṣaṇāḥ | viśvakṣetraṁ prajābījaṁ liṅgam ādyas tu nirgamaḥ ||
Vāyudeva said: “Kalās, kāṣṭhās, lavas, mātrās, muhūrtas, days and nights, and kṣaṇas—these are the measures and divisions of Time. He is the support of the universe, like the ground of a cosmic tree; He is the seed-cause of all beings; He is the subtle mark (liṅga) by which the unmanifest is inferred; and He is the first to emerge in creation.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a metaphysical teaching: Time is articulated through its traditional subdivisions, and behind these measures stands a primordial principle—support of the cosmos, seed of beings, subtle sign of the unmanifest, and the first manifestation in creation.
Vāyudeva is describing cosmic principles rather than a battlefield event: he enumerates units of time and then characterizes the foundational source that underlies the universe and initiates the process of manifestation.