Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 142
रुद्र-स्तवराजः (Rudra-Stavarāja) — Exempla of Śiva’s Boons and the Hymn’s Phalaśruti
कला: काष्ठा लवा मात्रा मुहूर्ताहःक्षपा: क्षणा: । विश्वेक्षेत्र प्रजाबीज॑ लिड्रमाद्यस्तु निर्गम:
vāyudeva uvāca | kalāḥ kāṣṭhā lavā mātrā muhūrtāhaḥkṣapāḥ kṣaṇāḥ | viśvakṣetraṁ prajābījaṁ liṅgam ādyas tu nirgamaḥ ||
风神伐由说道：“卡拉（kalā）、卡什塔（kāṣṭhā）、拉瓦（lava）、玛特拉（mātrā）、牟呼尔塔（muhūrta）、昼与夜，以及刹那（kṣaṇa）——这些皆为时间的度量与分段。他是宇宙之所依，如同大树之根基；他是一切众生的种子因；他是微细之相（liṅga），凭此可推知未显；他亦是创生中最先显现者。”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a metaphysical teaching: Time is articulated through its traditional subdivisions, and behind these measures stands a primordial principle—support of the cosmos, seed of beings, subtle sign of the unmanifest, and the first manifestation in creation.
Vāyudeva is describing cosmic principles rather than a battlefield event: he enumerates units of time and then characterizes the foundational source that underlies the universe and initiates the process of manifestation.