Shloka 9

Cosmic Time, Cycles of Creation and Dissolution, and the Varāha Uplift of Earth

Devanagari script

दिव्याब्दानां सहस्राणि युगेष्वाहुः पुराविदः । तत्प्रमाणैः शतैः संध्या पूर्वा तत्राभिधीयते

Transliteration

divyābdānāṃ sahasrāṇi yugeṣvāhuḥ purāvidaḥ | tatpramāṇaiḥ śataiḥ saṃdhyā pūrvā tatrābhidhīyate

Translation

ฤๅษีผู้รู้คัมภีร์โบราณกล่าวว่า ยุคทั้งหลายประกอบด้วยปีทิพย์นับพัน ๆ; และตามมาตรานั้นเป็นร้อย ๆ ก็ยังพรรณนาถึงกาลสนธยาเบื้องต้น (สํธยา) ไว้ ณ ที่นั้นด้วย

Word by Word

दिव्याब्दानाम्of divine years

सहस्राणिthousands

युगेषुin the yugas

आहुःthey say

पुराविदःthe knowers of old (ancients)

तत्of that

प्रमाणैःby measures/standards

शतैःby hundreds

संध्याthe twilight-period (sandhyā)

पूर्वाpreceding/earlier

तत्रthere

अभिधीयतेis called/said

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic voice; specific dialogue pair not explicit in this single verse excerpt)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Geographic Context

Type: celestial_realm

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: युगेष्वाहुः = युगेषु + आहुः; तत्प्रमाणैः = तत् + प्रमाणैः; तत्राभिधीयते = तत्र + अभिधीयते

FAQs

What is the “divine year” standard implied in this verse?

It points to a Purāṇic cosmological scale where time is measured in “divine years” (divyābdāḥ), a higher unit used to express yuga lengths, rather than ordinary human years.

What does “saṃdhyā” mean here in relation to the yugas?

Saṃdhyā is the junction or twilight period that precedes (and in many Purāṇic systems also follows) a yuga—transitional time that is measured proportionally to the yuga using the same unit standard.

What is the teaching emphasis of this verse within the Sṛṣṭikhaṇḍa context?

It frames creation-era narration within an ordered cosmological chronology, stressing that cosmic history is structured by precise measures of time (yugas and their transitional periods).