Shloka 42

Adhyaya 46 — Cosmic Dissolution, the Emergence of Brahma, and the Measures of Time (Yugas, Manvantaras, and Brahma’s Day)

Sanskrit

शतं हि तस्य वर्षाणां परमित्यभिधीयते ।

पञ्चाशद्भिस्तथा वर्षैः परार्धमिति कीर्त्यते ॥

Transliteration

śataṃ hi tasya varṣāṇāṃ param ity abhidhīyate / pañcāśadbhis tathā varṣaiḥ parārdham iti kīrtyate

Translation

اس کے سو برس کو ‘پر’ کہا جاتا ہے؛ اور اسی طرح پچاس برس کو ‘پراردھ’ (مکمل عمر کا نصف حصہ) قرار دیا گیا ہے۔

Word by Word

• śatam: a hundred
• śatam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd case), एकवचन; संख्यावाचक-नाम (numeral noun)

• hi: indeed/for
• hi: Sambandha/Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), अव्यय

• tasya: of him/of that
• tasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th case/genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• varṣāṇām: of years
• varṣāṇām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th case/genitive), बहुवचन

• param: the higher (term) / ‘param’
• param: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd case), एकवचन; विशेष्यवत् (used substantively)

• iti: thus/‘so called’
• iti: Quotation marker (इति)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण/इति-प्रयोग (quotative particle), अव्यय

• abhidhīyate: is called/is designated
• abhidhīyate: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: abhidhā (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), कर्मणि प्रयोग (passive), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; धातु: अभि-धा

• pañcāśadbhis: by fifties / by fifty (years)
• pañcāśadbhis: Karana (करण/तृतीया)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pañcāśat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (संख्याशब्द), तृतीया (3rd case/instrumental), बहुवचन

• tathā: likewise/so
• tathā: Adverbial modifier (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• varṣaiḥ: with/by years
• varṣaiḥ: Karana (करण/तृतीया)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd case/instrumental), बहुवचन

• parārdham: a half of the higher (i.e., fifty) / ‘parārdha’
• parārdham: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parārdha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd case), एकवचन

• iti: thus/‘so called’
• iti: Quotation marker (इति)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: उद्धरण/इति-प्रयोग (quotative particle), अव्यय

• kīrtyate: is proclaimed/is stated
• kīrtyate: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kīrt (धातु)
• Form: लट् (present), कर्मणि प्रयोग (passive), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; धातु: कीर्त्

Speakers

• Narrator (Mārkaṇḍeya in the wider dialogue tradition) addressing a brahmin interlocutor; immediate addressee implied in next verse as ‘dvijasattama’

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Brahmā

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Puranic time cycles
• Brahmā’s lifespan

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse situates human concepts of duration within a vastly larger cosmic scale, encouraging detachment from short-lived concerns and reverence for cosmic order (ṛta) expressed through measured time.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

This belongs primarily to ‘Saṃsthā/Pratisarga’-adjacent cosmological reckoning (time-structure that frames creation and dissolution cycles), supporting the Purāṇic characteristic of describing kalpas and cosmic durations.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Para’ and ‘parārdha’ function as symbolic thresholds: the mind is trained to think in progressively larger units, loosening identification with personal time and aligning cognition with a ‘Brahmā-scale’ perspective.