Shloka 18

Devanagari script

ये ते रात्यहनी पूर्व कीर्तिते जीवलौकिके । तयो: संख्याय वर्षग्रं ब्राह्मे वक्ष्याम्पह:क्षपे,पहले मनुष्योंके जो दिन-रात बताये गये हैं, उन्हींकी संख्याके हिसाबसे अब मैं ब्रह्माके दिन-रातका मान बताता हूँ। साथ ही सत्ययुग, त्रेता, द्वापए और कलियुग--इन चारों युगोंकी वर्ष-संख्या भी अलग-अलग बता रहा हूँ

Transliteration

ye te rātryahanī pūrvaṁ kīrtite jīvalaukike | tayoḥ saṅkhyāya varṣāgraṁ brāhme vakṣyāmy ahaḥkṣape ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: “Those nights and days that were previously described in relation to the human world—using their reckoning as the measure, I shall now state the span of Brahmā’s day and night, and the total count of years therein.”

Word by Word

येwhich (those)

तेto you

रात्र्यहनीnight and day (pair)

पूर्वम्formerly, earlier

कीर्तितेwere described/mentioned

जीवलौकिकेin the world of living beings (human realm)

तयोःof those two

संख्यायाःaccording to/from the count

वर्षाग्रम्the total/aggregate of years

ब्राह्मेin/for Brahmā’s (day-night)

वक्ष्यामिI shall tell

अहःक्षपेin (Brahmā’s) day and night

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Brahmā

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse introduces a shift from human-scale time to cosmic-scale time, stating that the previously explained human day-night reckoning will be used as a basis to explain Brahmā’s day and night and the aggregate count of years—preparing for the yuga and kalpa calculations that frame moral and social decline across ages.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa continues an instructional discourse in Śānti Parva, transitioning from earlier explanations of time as experienced in the human realm to the larger cosmological framework, announcing that he will now define Brahmā’s day-night measure and related year totals.