Shloka 21
कालनिर्णयः (युग-मन्वन्तर-कल्पप्रमाणम्) — Measures of Time and Cosmic Cycles
विंशतिश् च सहस्राणि कालो ऽयम् अधिकं विना मन्वन्तरस्य संख्येयं मानुषैर् वत्सरैर् द्विज
viṃśatiś ca sahasrāṇi kālo 'yam adhikaṃ vinā manvantarasya saṃkhyeyaṃ mānuṣair vatsarair dvija
O twice-born one, this span of time, reckoned in human years, is exactly twenty thousand with no remainder; such is the measure of a Manvantara.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Measurement/definition of a Manvantara in human years within Brahmā’s time-cycles
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Manvantara
Concept: Cosmic time is intelligible through determinate measures, with the Manvantara defined by a fixed count when translated into human years.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Use disciplined ‘time-reckoning’ as a contemplative aid: reflect on the scale of dharma across epochs to reduce ego-centric urgency and cultivate steadiness.
Vishishtadvaita: Orderly cosmic governance implies an intelligent Lord whose will structures time and its cycles for the moral evolution of beings.
FAQs
This verse highlights that a Manvantara is a specifically countable cosmic period measured in human years, underscoring the Purana’s structured view of universal order and recurring governance under successive Manus.
Parāśara presents kāla as a defined, enumerable duration—measurable even in human units—indicating that cosmic epochs are not vague myths but organized cycles within the Purāṇic framework.
Even when not named directly, the chronology of Manvantaras functions within Vishnu’s supremacy as the sustaining and ordering principle, through whom cosmic governance and time’s cycles are intelligible.