Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 17
रुद्र-विष्णोः ऐकत्व-उपदेशः तथा धर्म-आज्ञा
Instruction on Rudra–Viṣṇu Unity and Divine Injunctions
तेषां त्रिंशद्दिनेर्मासो द्वादशैस्तैश्च वत्सरः । शतवर्षप्रमाणेन ब्रह्मायुः परिकीर्तितम्
teṣāṃ triṃśaddinermāso dvādaśaistaiśca vatsaraḥ | śatavarṣapramāṇena brahmāyuḥ parikīrtitam
Pour lui, un mois se compose de trente jours de cette sorte, et une année de douze mois semblables. Selon la mesure de cent années ainsi comptées, la durée de vie de Brahmā est proclamée, suivant ce calcul cosmique.
Sūta Gosvāmi (narrating the Purāṇic cosmology to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Mahākāla
Jyotirlinga: Mahākāleśvara
Sthala Purana: Mahākāla as Lord of Time: the jyotirliṅga is famed for subduing kāla (death/time) and granting protection; this verse’s Brahmā-lifespan calculus underscores that even Brahmā is time-bound, while Mahākāla transcends and governs time.
Significance: Contemplation of Mahākāla grants fearlessness toward time/death and steadiness in dharma; pilgrimage is traditionally linked with kāla-śamana and mokṣa-oriented devotion.
Cosmic Event: Brahmā’s lifespan measure: 30 such days = month, 12 months = year, 100 years = Brahmāyus; implies finite tenure of creator within kalpa framework.
FAQs
It frames creation within a vast, ordered scale of time, implying that even Brahmā’s life is finite; Shaiva Siddhānta emphasizes that liberation comes by taking refuge in Śiva (Pati), who transcends time and its cycles.
By highlighting the impermanence of cosmic offices like Brahmā, the text implicitly turns the devotee toward stable refuge—Śiva worship through the Liṅga (Saguna focus) as a doorway to realizing the timeless Supreme.
Contemplate the vastness and transience of worldly time while repeating the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and maintaining daily Śiva-pūjā/abhiṣeka, cultivating dispassion (vairāgya) and steady devotion (bhakti).