Shiva Purana (Books 1 & 7)

यदैव दुःखितः कश्चित्तदैव सुखितः परः दुर्विज्ञेयस्वभावस्य कालास्याहो विचित्रता

At the very moment one person is suffering, another is happy; behold the wonder of Time, whose nature is hard to comprehend.

यो युवा स भवेद्वृद्धो यो बलीयान्स दुर्बलः यः श्रीमान्सो ऽपि निःश्रीकः कालश्चित्रगतिर्द्विजा

He who is young becomes old, the strong become weak, the prosperous become destitute—O twice-born, Time moves in strange ways.

नाभिजात्यं न वै शीलं न बलं न च नैपुणम् भवेत्कार्याय पर्याप्तं कालश्च ह्यनिरोधकः

Neither noble birth, nor character, nor strength, nor skill is sufficient for accomplishment, for Time cannot be obstructed.

ये सनाथाश्च दातारो गीतवाद्यैरुपस्थिताः ये चानाथाः परान्नादाः कालस्तेषु समक्रियः

Those who are supported and generous, surrounded by music and song, and those who are destitute, living on others' food—Time acts equally among them.

फलंत्यकाले न रसायनानि सम्यक्प्रयुक्तान्यपि चौषधानि तान्येव कालेन समाहृतानि सिद्धिं प्रयांत्याशु सुखं दिशंति

Medicines and elixirs, even when properly administered, do not yield results out of season; but when gathered at the right time, they quickly bring success and happiness.

नाकालतो ऽयं म्रियते जायते वा नाकालतः पुष्टिमग्र्यामुपैति नाकालतः सुखितं दुःखितं वा नाकालिकं वस्तु समस्ति किंचित्

No one dies or is born before their time; no one attains full strength before their time; no one is happy or unhappy before their time—there is nothing at all that occurs untimely.

कालेन शीतः प्रतिवाति वातःकालेन वृष्टिर्जलदानुपैति कालेन चोष्मा प्रशमं प्रयाति कालेन सर्वं सफलत्वमेति

By Time, the wind blows cold; by Time, rain falls from the clouds; by Time, heat subsides; by Time, everything attains fruition.

कालश्च सर्वस्य भवस्य हेतुः कालेन सस्यानि भवंति नित्यम् कालेन सस्यानि लयं प्रयांति कालेन संजीवति जीवलोकः

Time is the cause of all existence; by Time, crops always grow; by Time, crops perish; by Time, the world of living beings is revived.

इत्थं कालात्मनस्तत्त्वं यो विजानाति तत्त्वतः कालात्मानमतिक्रम्य कालातीतं स पश्यति

Thus, whoever truly understands the reality of the Self as Time, transcending the self of Time, sees that which is beyond Time.

न यस्य कालो न च बंधमुक्ती न यः पुमान्न प्रकृतिर्न विश्वम् विचित्ररूपाय शिवाय तस्मै नमःपरस्मै परमेश्वराय

Homage to that Shiva, the Supreme Lord beyond all, who has neither time nor bondage nor liberation, who is not a man, nor nature, nor the universe—whose forms are wondrous and diverse.

केन मानेन कालेस्मिन्नायुस्संख्या प्रकल्प्यते संख्यारूपस्य कालस्य कः पुनः परमो ऽवधिः

By what measure, in this time, is the span of life determined? And what, in turn, is the ultimate limit of time, which itself is counted and measured?

आयुषो ऽत्र निमेषाख्यमाद्यमानं प्रचक्षते संख्यारूपस्य कालस्य शांत्त्वतीतकलावधि

Here, the first unit of life is called a nimeṣa, the blink of an eye; the limit of time, which is counted and measured, is said to reach up to the state beyond tranquility.

अक्षिपक्ष्मपरिक्षेपो निमेषः परिकल्पितः तादृशानां निमेषाणां काष्ठा दश च पञ्च च

A nimeṣa is defined as the closing of the eyelids; fifteen such nimeṣas make up one kāṣṭhā.

काष्ठांस्त्रिंशत्कला नाम कलांस्त्रिंशन्मुहूर्तकः मुहूर्तानामपि त्रिंशदहोरात्रं प्रचक्षते

Thirty kāṣṭhās are called a kalā; thirty kalās make a muhūrta; and thirty muhūrtas, it is said, make a day and night.

त्रिंशत्संख्यैरहोरात्रैर्मासः पक्षद्वयात्मकः

A month, consisting of two fortnights, is made up of thirty such days and nights.

ज्ञेयं पित्र्यमहोरात्रं मासः कृष्णसितात्मकः

One should know that the ancestral day and night is a month, composed of the dark and bright fortnights.

मासैस्तैरयनं षड्भिर्वर्षं द्वे चायनं मतम् लौकिकेनैव मानेन अब्दो यो मानुषः स्मृतः

With those months, six make a solstice; two solstices are considered a year, and by this worldly measure, the human year is remembered.

एतद्दिव्यमहोरात्रमिति शास्त्रस्य निश्चयः दक्षिणं चायनं रात्रिस्तथोदगयनं दिनम्

This is the divine day and night, as established by scripture: the southern solstice is night, and the northern solstice is day.

मासस्त्रिंशदहोरात्रैर्दिव्यो मानुषवत्स्मृतः संवत्सरो ऽपि देवानां मासैर्द्वादशभिस्तथा

A divine month is reckoned as thirty days and nights; likewise, a year of the gods is twelve such months.

त्रीणि वर्षशतान्येव षष्टिवर्षयुतान्यपि दिव्यस्संवत्सरो ज्ञेयो मानुषेण प्रकीर्तितः

It is taught that a divine year equals three hundred and sixty human years, and so is known among people.

दिव्येनैव प्रमाणेन युगसंख्या प्रवर्तते चत्वारि भारते वर्षे युगानि कवयो विदुः

By this divine measure, the reckoning of yugas proceeds; the sages know that there are four yugas in the land of Bharata.

पूर्वं कृतयुगं नाम ततस्त्रेता विधीयते द्वापरं च कलिश्चैव युगान्येतानि कृत्स्नशः

First is the yuga called Kṛta, then comes Tretā, then Dvāpara, and finally Kali—these are the four yugas in their entirety.

चत्वारि तु सहस्राणि वर्षाणां तत्कृतं युगम् तस्य तावच्छतीसंध्या संध्यांशश्च तथाविधः

The Kṛta Yuga is four thousand years long, with a dawn and dusk of hundreds of years each, and a twilight of similar measure.

इतरेषु ससंध्येषु ससंध्यांशेषु च त्रिषु एकापायेन वर्तंते सहस्राणि शतानि च

In the other three yugas, including their dawns and twilights, each is shorter by one quarter, with hundreds and thousands accordingly.

एतद्द्वादशसाहस्रं साधिकं च चतुर्युगम् चतुर्युगसहस्रं यत्संकल्प इति कथ्यते

Thus, the four yugas together total twelve thousand (divine) years, and a thousand such four-yuga cycles is called a kalpa.

चतुर्युगैकसप्तत्या मनोरंतरमुच्यते कल्पे चतुर्दशैकस्मिन्मनूनां परिवृत्तयः

Seventy-one cycles of four yugas make a manvantara; in one kalpa, there are fourteen such cycles of Manus.

एतेन क्रमयोगेन कल्पमन्वंतराणि च सप्रजानि व्यतीतानि शतशो ऽथ सहस्रशः

By this sequence, hundreds and thousands of kalpas and manvantaras, along with their progeny, have passed away.

अज्ञेयत्वाच्च सर्वेषामसंख्येयतया पुनः शक्यो नैवानुपूर्व्याद्वै तेषां वक्तुं सुविस्तरः

Because they are unknowable and innumerable, it is not possible to describe them all in detail, nor to recount them in order.

कल्पो नाम दिवा प्रोक्तो ब्रह्मणो ऽव्यक्तजन्मनः कल्पानां वै सहस्रं च ब्राह्मं वर्षमिहोच्यते

A 'kalpa' is called a day of Brahmā, who is born from the unmanifest; and a thousand kalpas are said to make a year of Brahmā here.