Shloka 16

Time-Reckoning (Kāla-gaṇanā): Yugas, Manvantaras, Kalpas, and Prākṛta Pralaya

Devanagari script

त्रीणि कल्पशतानि स्युः तथा षष्टिर्द्विजोत्तमाः / ब्रह्मणः कथितं वर्षं पराख्यं तच्छतं विदुः

Transliteration

trīṇi kalpaśatāni syuḥ tathā ṣaṣṭirdvijottamāḥ / brahmaṇaḥ kathitaṃ varṣaṃ parākhyaṃ tacchataṃ viduḥ

Translation

おお、最勝の二度生まれよ。三百のカルパ、さらに六十を加えたものが「ブラフマーの一年」と説かれる。その総数は、百を単位とする標準の度量として知られる。

Word by Word

• trīṇi: three
• trīṇi: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural

• kalpaśatāni: hundreds of Kalpas
• kalpaśatāni: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kalpa-śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural

• syuḥ: should be/are
• syuḥ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: Optative (Vidhilin/विधिलिङ्), 3rd Person (Prathama), Plural

• tathā: also/as well as
• tathā: null
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (क्रियाविशेषण)

• ṣaṣṭiḥ: sixty
• ṣaṣṭiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ṣaṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• dvijottamāḥ: O best of the twice-born
• dvijottamāḥ: Sambodhana (Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija-uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative (Sambodhana/सम्बोधन), Plural

• brahmaṇaḥ: of Brahma
• brahmaṇaḥ: Sambandha (Relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• kathitam: said/declared
• kathitam: Vidheya (Predicate/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kathita (कृदन्त - कथ्+क्त)
• Form: Past Passive Participle, Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• varṣam: year
• varṣam: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• parākhyam: named 'Para'
• parākhyam: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para-ākhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• tat: that
• tat: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

• śatam: hundred (years)
• śatam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular

• viduḥ: they know/consider
• viduḥ: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vid (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (Lit/लिट् - used as Present), 3rd Person (Prathama), Plural

Speaker

Suta (narrator) recounting the teaching within the Purana’s cosmological discourse

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Brahma
• Kalpa
• Dvija

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

How does this verse explain the nature of the Supreme Self (Atman)?

Indirectly: by mapping vast cosmic time (kalpas and Brahmā’s year), the verse frames creation as cyclical and contingent—encouraging discernment between the changing cosmos and the timeless Atman taught elsewhere in the Kurma Purana’s synthesis of Shaiva–Vaishnava doctrine.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

No specific practice is prescribed in this verse; it supplies the cosmological time-scale that undergirds Kurma Purana teachings where Yoga (including Pāśupata-oriented discipline) is presented as a path to transcend time-bound cycles of creation and dissolution.

How does this verse depict the relationship between Shiva and Vishnu?

The verse is primarily chronological, not sectarian; by grounding doctrine in a shared Puranic cosmology (Brahmā’s time), it supports the Kurma Purana’s broader non-competitive Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis where the Supreme is approached through multiple divine forms.