Shloka 15
Time-Reckoning (Kāla-gaṇanā): Yugas, Manvantaras, Kalpas, and Prākṛta Pralaya
ब्राह्ममेकमहः कल्पस्तावती रात्रिरिष्यते / चतुर्युगसहस्त्रं तु कल्पमाहुर्मनीषिणः
brāhmamekamahaḥ kalpastāvatī rātririṣyate / caturyugasahastraṃ tu kalpamāhurmanīṣiṇaḥ
ബ്രഹ്മാവിന്റെ ഒരു പകലിനെ ‘കല്പം’ എന്നു പറയുന്നു; അത്രതന്നെ ദൈർഘ്യമുള്ള കാലം അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ രാത്രിയെന്നും കരുതുന്നു. ഒരു കല്പം ചതുര്യുഗങ്ങളുടെ ആയിരം ചക്രങ്ങളാണെന്ന് പണ്ഡിതർ പറയുന്നു.
Sūta (narrator) conveying the Purāṇic cosmological teaching as received from sages
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By mapping creation into Brahmā’s day and dissolution into his night, the verse implies that cosmic manifestation is cyclical and conditioned by time, while the highest reality (Atman/Ishvara) is understood in the Kurma Purana as the timeless ground that remains unchanged through these cycles.
This verse itself teaches kāla-jñāna (knowledge of cosmic time) rather than a specific technique; in the Kurma Purana’s spiritual framework, such cosmological discernment supports vairāgya (dispassion) and steadiness in sādhanā, which then culminates in disciplined Yoga (including Shaiva-Pāśupata orientations) taught elsewhere.
Indirectly: by presenting a shared Purāṇic cosmology (Brahmā’s day-night, kalpa, yuga cycles), it provides the common metaphysical stage on which the Kurma Purana later articulates Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis—one Ishvara guiding creation and dissolution through different divine forms.