Shloka 2
Brahmā’s Enumeration of Primacies (Ādi) and the Supremacy of Knowledge
Jñāna
अह: पूर्व ततो रात्रिमासा: शुक्लादय: स्मृता: । श्रवणादीनि ऋक्षाणि ऋतव: शिशिरादय:
ahaḥ pūrvaṃ tato rātrimāsāḥ śuklādayaḥ smṛtāḥ | śravaṇādīni ṛkṣāṇi ṛtavaḥ śiśirādayaḥ ||
Vāyu berkata: “Siang datang terlebih dahulu, kemudian barulah malam. Demikian juga, separuh bulan terang (Śukla-pakṣa) dianggap sebagai permulaan bulan; Śravaṇa dihitung sebagai yang pertama antara rumah-rumah bulan; dan Śiśira diperhitungkan sebagai yang pertama antara musim-musim.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a principle of traditional ordering: in cycles of time and ritual reckoning, one part is conventionally treated as the ‘beginning’ (day before night; bright fortnight before dark; a named nakṣatra and season as starting points). It emphasizes accepted norms (smṛti) and cosmic regularity.
Vāyudeva is explaining how beginnings are determined in temporal cycles—day/night, fortnight/month, nakṣatras, and seasons—using familiar examples to establish a rule of precedence and conventional enumeration.