Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 25
Mārkaṇḍeya-varṇanam
The Description of Mārkaṇḍeya
उत्तरं दिवसं प्राहू रात्रिर्वै दक्षिणायनम् । मानुषेणैव मासेन पितॄणां दिनमुच्यते ॥ २५ ॥
uttaraṃ divasaṃ prāhū rātrirvai dakṣiṇāyanam | mānuṣeṇaiva māsena pitṝṇāṃ dinamucyate || 25 ||
They declare the uttarāyaṇa, the Sun’s northern course, to be day, and the dakṣiṇāyana, the southern course, to be night. And a single human month is reckoned as one “day” of the Pitṛs, the ancestral spirits.
Sanatkumara (teaching Narada)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: none
FAQs
It reframes time as relative across realms: what humans count as months and solar courses become the day–night rhythm for the Pitṛs, grounding ancestor worship (pitṛ-yajña/śrāddha) in a cosmic order (kāla).
By situating human life within divine time-scales, it encourages reverent remembrance—devotional duty toward ancestors and alignment with dharma—supporting a disciplined, God-centered life where rituals and remembrance become acts of devotion.
Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa (astronomical time-reckoning): uttarāyaṇa/dakṣiṇāyana as calendrical divisions and the principle that ritual timing and cosmological time units differ for various beings, relevant to planning śrāddha and pitṛ rites.