Matsya Purana — Measures of Time: Caturyuga Computation, Shloka 8

Devanagari script

मानुषेणैव मानेन वर्षाणां यच्छतं भवेत् पितॄणां तानि वर्षाणि संख्यातानि तु त्रीणि वै दश च द्व्यधिका मासाः पितृसंख्येह कीर्तिता //

Transliteration

mānuṣeṇaiva mānena varṣāṇāṃ yacchataṃ bhavet pitṝṇāṃ tāni varṣāṇi saṃkhyātāni tu trīṇi vai daśa ca dvyadhikā māsāḥ pitṛsaṃkhyeha kīrtitā //

Translation

依人间的尺度，凡合一百年者，在祖灵（Pitṛ）的计数中便成为他们的年数；而在此祖灵之算法中宣说为三年并再加十个月——此即此处所述的祖先计数。

Word by Word

• मानुषेण (mānuṣeṇa): by the human

• एव (eva): indeed/only

• मानेन (mānena): by the measure/standard

• वर्षाणाम् (varṣāṇām): of years

• यत् (yat): whatever/that which

• शतम् (śatam): a hundred

• भवेत् (bhavet): becomes/would be

• पितॄणाम् (pitṝṇām): of the Pitṛs/ancestors

• तानि (tāni): those

• वर्षाणि (varṣāṇi): years

• संख्यातानि (saṃkhyātāni): counted/reckoned

• तु (tu): indeed/however

• त्रीणि (trīṇi): three

• वै (vai): truly

• दश (daśa): ten

• च (ca): and

• द्व्यधिका (dvyadhikā): increased by two/exceeding (i.e., “plus”)

• मासाः (māsāḥ): months

• पितृसंख्ये (pitṛsaṃkhye): in the Pitṛ-reckoning

• इह (iha): here

• कीर्तिता (kīrtitā): declared/stated.

Speaker

• Lord Matsya (Vishnu) instructing Vaivasvata Manu on kāla-māna (cosmic and ritual time measures)

Entities Mentioned

• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Manu (Vaivasvata Manu)
• Lord Matsya (implied dialogue frame)

Tags

• Kāla-māna
• Pitṛ-loka
• Śrāddha
• Ritual time
• Puranic cosmology

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

It does not describe Pralaya directly; it gives a technical kāla-māna (time-reckoning) teaching, explaining how human years are converted into the Pitṛs’ (ancestral) measure of time used in cosmology and ritual contexts.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

By defining Pitṛ-reckoning, it supports correct observance of śrāddha and ancestor rites—key household and royal obligations in the Matsya Purana’s dharma framework, where timing and calendrical accuracy are treated as part of ritual duty.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

The significance is ritual rather than architectural: it provides the ancestral time-scale used when discussing śrāddha, Pitṛ offerings, and related calendrical computations that depend on differing cosmic “clocks.”