Shloka 45

अध्याय १६ — शङ्कर-उमा-वरदानम् तथा तण्डि-स्तुतिः (Śaṅkara–Umā Boon-Granting and Taṇḍi’s Hymn)

Devanagari script

अयं च पितृयानानां चन्द्रमा द्वारमुच्यते । एष काष्ठा दिशश्वैव संवत्सरयुगादि च

Transliteration

ayaṃ ca pitṛyānānāṃ candramā dvāram ucyate | eṣa kāṣṭhā diśaś caiva saṃvatsarayugādi ca

Translation

വായു പറഞ്ഞു—പിതൃയാനപഥം സ്വീകരിക്കുന്നവർക്ക് ചന്ദ്രനെയാണ് ദ്വാരമെന്ന് പറയുന്നത്. അവനിൽ നിന്നാണ് കാഷ്ഠ, ദിക്കുകൾ, കൂടാതെ സംവത്സരം, യുഗം മുതലായ കാലവിഭാഗങ്ങളുടെ കണക്കും നിർണ്ണയിക്കപ്പെടുന്നത്.

Word by Word

अयम्this (one)

चand

पितृयानानाम्of the paths/ways of the Pitṛs (manes)

चन्द्रमाthe moon

द्वारम्door; gateway

उच्यतेis said; is called

एषःthis (one)

काष्ठाःquarters/directions (intermediate points); stages

दिशःdirections

चand

एवindeed; also

संवत्सरयुगादिthe year, the yuga, and the rest (etc.)

चand

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

व

वायुदेव (Vāyu)

च

चन्द्रमा (Candramā, the Moon)

प

पितृयाण (Pitṛyāna, the ancestral path)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse links cosmic order with moral-ritual order: the Moon is presented as a key threshold for the pitṛyāna (ancestral post-mortem path) and as a regulator by which directions and major measures of time (year, yuga, etc.) are reckoned—implying that dharmic rites and the cosmos are coordinated through lunar order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu is explaining cosmological structure: he identifies the Moon as the ‘gate’ for those who proceed along the ancestral route after death and states that the Moon is also the basis for reckoning directional points and temporal divisions such as the year and larger epochs.