Shloka 19
Gaṅgā-Tīrtha Darśana and the Prelude to the Yavakrīta–Indra Exemplum (लोमश-युधिष्ठिर संवादः)
अद्टावक्र उवाच संवत्सरं द्वादशमासमाहु- ज॑गत्या: पादो द्वादशैवाक्षराणि । द्वादशाह: प्राकृतो यज्ञ उक्तो द्वादशादित्यान् कथयन्तीह धीरा:,अष्टावक्र बोले--एक संवत्सरमें बारह महीने बताये गये हैं, जगती छन््दका प्रत्येक पाद बारह अक्षरोंका होता है, प्राकृत यज्ञ बारह दिनोंका माना गया है, ज्ञानी पुरुष यहाँ बारहरें आदित्योंका वर्णन करते हैं
aṣṭāvakra uvāca saṃvatsaraṃ dvādaśa-māsam āhur jagatyāḥ pādo dvādaśaivākṣarāṇi | dvādaśāhaḥ prākṛto yajña ukto dvādaśādityān kathayantīha dhīrāḥ ||
Disse Aṣṭāvakra: “Declara-se que um ano consiste de doze meses; no metro Jagatī cada quarto tem doze sílabas; o sacrifício ‘Prākṛta’ é dito durar doze dias; e os sábios aqui falam dos doze Ādityas. Assim, em muitos domínios, o número doze é sustentado como medida de ordem e completude.”
अद्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Aṣṭāvakra highlights how ‘twelve’ recurs across time (twelve months), sacred speech (Jagatī’s twelve-syllable quarters), ritual practice (a twelve-day sacrifice), and theology (twelve Ādityas), suggesting an underlying order that links cosmos, liturgy, and disciplined knowledge.
In his discourse, Aṣṭāvakra enumerates traditional correspondences centered on the number twelve, drawing from calendrical reckoning, Vedic metre, sacrificial duration, and the pantheon, to instruct listeners in seeing patterned harmony across different branches of sacred learning.