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.
वर्षाणामष्टसाहस्रं यच्च तद्ब्रह्मणो युगम् सवनं युगसाहस्रं ब्रह्मणः पद्मजन्मनः
Eight thousand years is said to be a yuga of Brahmā; a thousand such yugas is a savana of Brahmā, the lotus-born.
सवनानां सहस्रं च त्रिगुणं त्रिवृतं तथा कल्प्यते सकलः कालो ब्रह्मणः परमेष्ठिनः
A thousand savanas, multiplied threefold and again threefold, is reckoned as the complete time of Brahmā, the supreme lord.
तस्य वै दिवसे यांति चतुर्दश पुरंदराः शतानि मासे चत्वारि विंशत्या सहितानि च
During his day, fourteen Indras pass; in a month, four times twenty, together with hundreds.
अब्दे पञ्च सहस्राणि चत्वारिंशद्युतानि च चत्वारिंशत्सहस्राणि पञ्च लक्षाणि चायुषि
In a year, there are five thousand and forty; forty thousand and five hundred thousand in their lifespan.
ब्रह्मा विष्णोर्दिने चैको विष्णू रुद्रदिने तथा ईश्वरस्य दिने रुद्रस्सदाख्यस्य तथेश्वरः
A day of Brahmā is a day of Viṣṇu; likewise, a day of Viṣṇu is a day of Rudra; and a day of Rudra is a day of Īśvara, the ever-named.
साक्षाच्छिवस्य तत्संख्यस्तथा सो ऽपि सदाशिवः चत्वारिंशत्सहस्राणि पञ्चलक्षाणि चायुषि
The same number applies directly to Śiva, and so also to Sadāśiva: forty thousand and five hundred thousand in lifespan.
अहस्तस्य तु या सृष्टी रात्रिश्च प्रलयः स्मृतः अहर्न विद्यते तस्य न रात्रिरिति धारयेत्
For him who has no day, creation is called his day, and dissolution is called his night; but truly, for him there is neither day nor night—so it should be understood.
एषोपचारः क्रियते लोकानां हितकाम्यया प्रजाः प्रजानां पतयो मूर्तयश्च सुरासुराः
This is a figurative explanation, given for the benefit of the worlds; the beings, their lords, their forms, and the gods and asuras.
इन्द्रियाणीन्द्रियार्थाश्च महाभूतानि पञ्च च तन्मात्राण्यथ भूतादिर्बुद्धिश्च सह दैवतः
The senses, their objects, the five great elements, the subtle elements, the source of the elements, and intellect, together with their presiding deities—
अहस्तिष्ठंति सर्वाणि पारमेशस्य धीमतः अहरंते प्रलीयन्ते रात्र्यन्ते विश्वसंभवः
All these remain during the day of the wise Supreme Lord; at the end of the day, they dissolve, and at the end of the night, the universe arises again.