Shloka 14
Garuḍa, the Brāhmaṇa’s Release, and Kaśyapa’s Counsel
Gajakacchapa-ākhyāna Prelude
त्वं मुहूर्तस्तिथिस्त्वं च त्वं लवस्त्वं पुन: क्षण: । शुक्लस्त्वं बहुलस्त्वं च कला काष्ठा त्रुटिस्तथा । संवत्सरर्तवों मासा रजन्यश्न दिनानि च,“तुम मुहूर्त हो, तुम्हीं तिथि हो, तुम्हीं लव तथा तुम्हीं क्षण हो। शुक्लपक्ष और कृष्णपक्ष भी तुमसे भिन्न नहीं हैं। कला, काष्ठा और त्रुटि सब तुम्हारे ही स्वरूप हैं। संवत्सर, ऋतु, मास, रात्रि तथा दिन भी तुम्हीं हो
tvaṁ muhūrtas tithis tvaṁ ca tvaṁ lavas tvaṁ punaḥ kṣaṇaḥ | śuklas tvaṁ bahulas tvaṁ ca kalā kāṣṭhā truṭis tathā | saṁvatsarar̥tavo māsā rajanyaś ca dināni ca ||
The Grandsire said: “You are the very measure of time itself—you are the muhūrta and the lunar day; you are the lava and again the kṣaṇa. You are the bright fortnight and the dark fortnight as well. You are the subdivisions of time—kalā, kāṣṭhā, and truṭi. The year, the seasons, the months, the nights, and the days are also you.” In ethical and devotional terms, the verse affirms the all-pervading sovereignty of the addressed being: even the structures by which life is ordered—time and its divisions—are not independent realities but expressions of the one supreme principle.
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the supreme reality addressed here is not merely within time but is identical with time and all its divisions. This frames ethical life as lived within a sacred order: the very calendar by which duties, vows, and rites are timed is an expression of the one all-pervading principle.
The speaker, titled ‘Pitāmaha’ (the Grandsire), is offering a hymn-like praise (stuti), describing the addressee as the embodiment of cosmic structures—especially time (from tiny instants up to years and seasons). The focus is devotional and metaphysical rather than action-driven.