Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 16
Time-Reckoning (Kāla-gaṇanā): Yugas, Manvantaras, Kalpas, and Prākṛta Pralaya
त्रीणि कल्पशतानि स्युः तथा षष्टिर्द्विजोत्तमाः / ब्रह्मणः कथितं वर्षं पराख्यं तच्छतं विदुः
trīṇi kalpaśatāni syuḥ tathā ṣaṣṭirdvijottamāḥ / brahmaṇaḥ kathitaṃ varṣaṃ parākhyaṃ tacchataṃ viduḥ
Wahai yang terbaik antara kaum dwija, tiga ratus Kalpa dan tambahan enam puluh lagi membentuk apa yang disebut “setahun Brahmā”. Jumlah itu diketahui sebagai ukuran yang dihitung menurut bilangan ratus.
Suta (narrator) recounting the teaching within the Purana’s cosmological discourse
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
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.
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.
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.