Shloka 2

Brahmā’s Enumeration of Primacies (Ādi) and the Supremacy of Knowledge

Jñāna

Devanagari script

अह: पूर्व ततो रात्रिमासा: शुक्लादय: स्मृता: । श्रवणादीनि ऋक्षाणि ऋतव: शिशिरादय:,पहले दिन है फिर रात्रि; (अतः दिन रात्रिका आदि है। इसी प्रकार) शुक्लपक्ष महीनेका, श्रवण नक्षत्रोंका और शिशिर ऋतुओंका आदि है

Transliteration

ahaḥ pūrvaṃ tato rātrimāsāḥ śuklādayaḥ smṛtāḥ | śravaṇādīni ṛkṣāṇi ṛtavaḥ śiśirādayaḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu bersabda: “Siang datang lebih dahulu, lalu malam. Demikian pula, paruh terang (śukla-pakṣa) dipandang sebagai awal bulan; Śravaṇa dihitung sebagai yang pertama di antara rasi/nakṣatra; dan Śiśira dianggap sebagai yang pertama di antara musim.”

Word by Word

अहःday

पूर्वम्first/earlier

ततःthen/thereafter

रात्रिम्night

मासाःmonths

शुक्लादयःbeginning with the bright (fortnight), i.e., the bright etc.

स्मृताःare remembered/are regarded (as)

श्रवणादीनिbeginning with Śravaṇa (nakṣatra), i.e., Śravaṇa etc.

ऋक्षाणिlunar mansions/constellations (nakṣatras)

ऋतवःseasons

शिशिरादयःbeginning with Śiśira (season), i.e., Śiśira etc.

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

Śravaṇa (nakṣatra)

Śiśira (season)

Śukla-pakṣa (bright fortnight)

Nakṣatras (ṛkṣāṇi)

Seasons (ṛtavaḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a principle of traditional ordering: in cycles of time and ritual reckoning, one part is conventionally treated as the ‘beginning’ (day before night; bright fortnight before dark; a named nakṣatra and season as starting points). It emphasizes accepted norms (smṛti) and cosmic regularity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is explaining how beginnings are determined in temporal cycles—day/night, fortnight/month, nakṣatras, and seasons—using familiar examples to establish a rule of precedence and conventional enumeration.