Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 16, Shloka 35
Adhyaya 16 — The Son’s Counsel on Renunciation and the Anasuya–Mandavya Episode: The Suspension of Sunrise and the Power of Pativrata
विना चायनविज्ञानात् कालः संवत्सरः कुतः ।
संवत्सरं विना नान्यत् कालज्ञानं प्रवर्तते ॥
vinā cāyanavijñānāt kālaḥ saṃvatsaraḥ kutaḥ |
saṃvatsaraṃ vinā nānyat kālajñānaṃ pravartate ||
अयनों का ज्ञान न हो तो ‘वर्ष’ नामक काल-एकक कैसे बने? और वर्ष के बिना समय का अन्य कोई भी ज्ञान ठीक से आगे नहीं बढ़ सकता।
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FAQs
The verse ranks temporal cognition: higher-order stability (year) depends on correctly apprehending foundational cycles (ayanas). Ethically, it implies that disciplined observation and tradition-based reckoning are prerequisites for orderly communal and ritual life.
Supports Manvantara/chronological material by emphasizing the year as a necessary unit for larger time-reckonings used in Purāṇic history, genealogies, and cosmic cycles.
Ayana can symbolize ‘direction’ or ‘course’ of consciousness. Without knowing one’s inner course, the ‘year’—a complete cycle of maturation—cannot be formed; without that, subtler timing (right season for action) fails.