Markandeya Purana

अहोरात्रं मुहूर्तानां नृणां त्रिंशत्तु वै स्मृतम् । अहोरात्रैश्च त्रिंशद्भिः पक्षौ द्वौ मास उच्यते॥४६.

A day and night of humans is reckoned as thirty muhūrtas; thirty such days and nights make two fortnights, which is called a month.

तैः षड्भिरयनं वर्षं द्वेऽयने दक्षिणोत्तरे । तद्देवानामहोरात्रं दिनं तत्रोत्तरायणम्॥४६.

With six such months is a year, divided into the southern and northern courses; for the gods, a day and night is thus, with the northern course as their day.

दिव्यैर्वर्षसहस्रैस्तु कृतत्रेतादिसंज्ञितम् । चतुर्युगं द्वादशभिस्तद्विभागं शृणुष्व मे॥४६.

A chaturyuga, known as Krita, Treta, and so on, consists of twelve thousand divine years; listen to the division of that from me.

चत्वारि तु सहस्राणि वर्षाणां कृतमुच्यते । शतानि सन्ध्या चत्वारि सन्ध्यांशश्च तथाविधः॥४६.

Four thousand years are said to be the length of the Kṛta Yuga; its twilight lasts four hundred years, and the dawn is of the same measure.

त्रेता त्रीणि सहस्राणि दिव्याब्दानां शतत्रयम् । तत्सन्ध्या तत्समा चैव सन्ध्यांशश्च तथाविधः॥४६.

The Tretā Yuga consists of three thousand divine years, and its twilight and dawn each last three hundred years, with the same measure for the dawn.

द्वापरं द्वे सहस्रे तु वर्षाणां द्वे शते तथा । तस्य सन्ध्या समाख्याता द्वे शताब्दे तदंशकः॥४६.

The Dvāpara Yuga is two thousand years, with two hundred years as its twilight; its dawn is also said to be two hundred years.

कलिः सहस्रं दिव्यानामब्दानां द्विजसत्तम । सन्ध्या सन्ध्यांशकश्चैव शतकौ समुदाहृतौ॥४६.

O best of twice-born, the Kali Yuga is a thousand divine years; its twilight and dawn are each said to be one hundred years.

एषा द्वाधशसाहस्त्री युगाख्या कविभिः कृता । एतत् सहस्रगुणितमो ब्राह्म्यमुदाहृतम्॥४६.

Thus, the total duration of the four yugas is twelve thousand years, as composed by the sages; multiplied by a thousand, this is called a day of Brahmā.

ब्रह्मणो दिवसे ब्रह्मन् मनवः स्युश्चतुर्दश । भवन्ति भागशस्तेषां सहस्रं तद्विभज्यते॥४६.

O brāhmaṇa, in a day of Brahmā there are fourteen Manus; their periods are divisions of that thousand.

देवाः सप्तर्षयः सेन्द्रा मनुस्तत्सूनवो नृपाः । मनुना सह सृज्यन्ते संह्रियन्ते च पूर्ववत्॥४६.

The gods, the Seven Sages, Indra, Manu, and the kings who are his sons are all created together with Manu and are dissolved as before.

चतुर्युगानां संख्याता साधिका ह्ये कसप्ततिः । मन्वन्तरं तस्य संख्यां मानुषाब्दैर्निबोध मे॥४६.

The number of four yugas in a manvantara is seventy-one plus a fraction; listen as I declare the duration of a manvantara in human years.

त्रिंशत्कोट्यस्तु संपूर्णाः संख्याताः संख्यया द्विज । सत्पषष्टिस्तथान्यानि नियुतानि च संख्यया॥४६.

Thirty crore years are the full count, O twice-born, and there are also sixty-six more niyutas in number.

विंशतिश्च सहस्राणि कालोऽयं साधिकं विना । एतन्मन्वन्तरं प्रोक्तं दिव्यैर्वर्षैर्निबोध मे॥४६.

And twenty thousand more, making this period slightly more; this is called a manvantara—hear its reckoning in divine years from me.

अष्टौ वर्षसहस्राणि दिव्यया संख्यया युतम् । द्विपञ्चाशत्तथान्यानि सहस्राण्यधिकानि तु॥४६.

Eight thousand divine years, plus fifty-two thousand more, are to be added.

चतुर्दशगुणो ह्येष कालो ब्रह्म्यमहः स्मृतम् । तस्यान्ते प्रलयः प्रोक्तो ब्रह्मन् नैमित्तिको बुधैः॥४६.

This period, multiplied by fourteen, is known as a day of Brahmā; at its end, a dissolution called naimittika is declared by the wise.

भूर्लोकोऽथ भुवर्लोकः स्वर्लोकश्च विनाशिनः । तथा विनाशमायान्ति महर्लोकश्च तिष्ठति॥४६.

The earth, the atmosphere, and heaven are all subject to destruction; thus, they perish, while the Maharloka remains.

तद्वासिनोऽपि तापेन जनलोकं प्रयान्ति वै । एकार्णवे च त्रैलोक्ये ब्रह्मा स्वपिति वै निशि॥४६.

Even the inhabitants of that world, due to the heat, go to Janaloka; and in the three worlds, covered by a single ocean, Brahmā sleeps during the night.

तत्प्रमाणैव सा रात्रिस्तदन्ते सृज्यते पुनः । एवन्तु ब्रह्मणो वर्षमेकं वर्षशतन्तु तत्॥४६.

That night is of equal measure to his day; at its end, creation arises again. In this way, one year of Brahmā is made, and a hundred such years as well.

शतं हि तस्य वर्षाणां परमित्यभिधीयते । पञ्चाशद्भिस्तथा वर्षैः परार्धमिति कीर्त्यते॥४६.

A hundred of his years is called the supreme span; and fifty years is known as a parārdha.

एवमस्य परार्धन्तु व्यतीतं द्विजसत्तम । यस्यान्तेऽभून्महाकल्पः पाद्म इत्यभिविश्रुतः॥४६.

Thus, O best of twice-born, one parārdha of his has passed; at its end occurred the great kalpa, renowned as the Padma.

द्वितीयस्य परार्धस्य वर्तमानस्य वै द्विज । वाराह इति कल्पोऽयं प्रथमः परिकल्पितः॥४६.

O brāhmaṇa, in the second parārdha, which is now current, the first kalpa is reckoned as the Vārāha.

एवंविधाः सृष्टयस्तु ब्रह्मणोऽव्यक्तजन्मनः । शर्वर्यन्ते प्रबुद्धस्य कल्पे कल्पे भवन्ति वै॥४८.

Such are the creations of Brahma, whose birth is unmanifest; at the end of the night, when he awakens, they come into being in each and every kalpa.

प्राकारपरिखाहीनां पुरं खर्वटमुच्यते । शाखानगरकञ्चान्यन्मन्त्रिसामन्तभुक्तिमत्॥४९.

A settlement lacking walls and moats is called a kharvata; other types are branch-towns, ministerial domains, and territories governed by vassals.

तथा शूद्रजनप्रायाः स्वसमृद्धिकृषीबलाः । क्षेत्रोपभोग्यभूमध्ये वसतिर्ग्रामसंज्ञिता॥४९.

Likewise, dwellings chiefly inhabited by Shudras, sustained by their own prosperity and agricultural labor, situated amidst fields and usable land, are known as villages.

अन्यस्मान्नगरादेर्या कार्यमुद्दिश्य मानवैः । क्रियते वसतिः सा वै विज्ञेया वसतिर्नरैः॥४९.

Any dwelling established by people for a specific purpose, apart from cities and the like, should be understood as a residence by men.

दुष्टप्रायो विना क्षेत्रैः परभूमिचरो बली । ग्राम एव द्रमीसंज्ञो राजवल्लभसंश्रयः॥४९.

One who is mostly unruly, strong, and roams on others' land without fields is called a dramī in a village, taking refuge with the king's favor.

शकटारूढभाण्डैश्च गोपालैर्विपणं विना । गोसमूहैस्तथा घोषो यत्रेच्छाभूमिकेतनः॥४९.

A settlement of cowherds, without a marketplace, with their goods loaded on carts, and herds of cows, wherever they wish to dwell, is called a ghoṣa.

त एवं नगरादींस्तु कृत्वा वासार्थमात्मनः । निकेतनानि द्वन्द्वानां चक्रुरावसथाय वै॥४९.

Thus, after making cities and the rest for their own dwelling, they constructed abodes for pairs of people, indeed, for the sake of residence.

गृहाकारा यथा पूर्वं तेषामासन्नहीरुहाः । तथा संस्मृत्य तत्सर्वं चक्रुर्वेश्मानि ताः प्रजाः॥४९.

As before, their houses were built near trees; remembering all that, those people constructed their homes in the same way.