Shloka 10
Duryodhana Seized by Citraseṇa; Kaurava Petition to Yudhiṣṭhira (दुर्योधनापहारः / चित्रसेनगन्धर्वग्रहणम्)
धनिष्ठादिस्तदा कालो ब्रह्मणा परिकल्पित: । रोहिणी हाभवत् पूर्वमेवं संख्या समाभवत्,“अभिजितका पतन होनेसे ब्रह्माजीने धनिष्ठासे ही (सत्ययुग आदि) कालकी गणनाका क्रम निश्चित किया (क्योंकि वही उस समय युगादि नक्षत्र था)। इसके पूर्व रोहिणीको ही युगादि नक्षत्र माना जाता था (क्योंकि उसीके प्रारम्भकालमें चन्द्रमा, सूर्य तथा गुरुका योग होता था)--इस प्रकार नाक्षत्र मासकी दिन-संख्या उन दिनों सम थी”
Dhaniṣṭhādistadā kālo brahmaṇā parikalpitaḥ | Rohiṇī hābhavat pūrvam evaṃ saṅkhyā samābhavat ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “At that time, Brahmā established the reckoning of time beginning with Dhaniṣṭhā. Earlier, however, Rohiṇī had been regarded as the starting asterism. Thus, in those days, the count (of days) for the lunar month was held to be even and regular.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes that cosmic order and social time-reckoning (kāla-saṅkhyā) are not arbitrary: they are grounded in an authoritative, divinely instituted framework (here attributed to Brahmā), while also acknowledging that conventions can shift across eras (from Rohiṇī to Dhaniṣṭhā as the starting nakṣatra).
Mārkaṇḍeya explains an older astronomical/traditional convention about how time was counted by nakṣatras: at one period Brahmā fixed the sequence beginning with Dhaniṣṭhā, whereas earlier tradition treated Rohiṇī as the initial asterism; he notes that the lunar-month day-count was considered even/regular in that earlier arrangement.