Shloka 4
कलिस्वरूप-वर्णनम् एवं कालमान-प्रस्तावना
अहोरात्रं पितॄणां तु मासो ऽब्दस् त्रिदिवौकसाम् चतुर्युगसहस्रे तु ब्रह्मणो द्वे द्विजोत्तम
ahorātraṃ pitṝṇāṃ tu māso 'bdas tridivaukasām caturyugasahasre tu brahmaṇo dve dvijottama
Bagi para Pitṛ, kiraan siang-malam adalah berbeza; bagi penghuni syurga, satu bulan ialah siang-malam mereka dan satu tahun menjadi ukuran masa. Seribu caturyuga membentuk siang-malam Brahmā, wahai yang terbaik antara dwija.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Relative measures of time for Pitṛs, Devas, and Brahmā (day/night of Brahmā)
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Kalpa
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: Time is relative across realms: Pitṛs, Devas, and Brahmā experience different day-night measures, culminating in Brahmā’s vast day-night of a thousand caturyugas.
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Use the vastness of cosmic time to recalibrate priorities toward dharma and liberation rather than short-lived gains.
Vishishtadvaita: The ordered gradation of time across lokas reflects a real cosmic hierarchy sustained under the Supreme’s governance, not a mere illusion.
FAQs
It teaches that time is experienced and measured differently across cosmic realms, establishing a graded universe where human, ancestral, divine, and cosmic times fit into one ordered hierarchy.
He lays out a ladder of time-units—moving from human measures to Pitṛ and Deva measures—culminating in Brahmā’s day-and-night defined by a thousand four-Yuga cycles.
By mapping the universe through precise cycles, the Purana implies a sovereign cosmic law ultimately grounded in Vishnu, within whose order creation, duration, and dissolution proceed.