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.
यो विश्वात्मा कर्मकालस्वभावाद्यर्थे शक्तिर्यस्य नोल्लंघनीया यस्यैवाज्ञाधीनमेतत्समस्तं नमस्तस्मै महते शंकराय
Salutation to that great Śaṅkara, the soul of the universe, whose power is action, time, and nature; whose command alone governs all this, and which cannot be transgressed.
कथं जगदिदं कृत्स्नं विधाय च निधाय च आज्ञया परमां क्रीडां करोति परमेश्वरः
How does the Supreme Lord, having created and then withdrawn this entire world, perform his supreme play by his command?
किं तत्प्रथमसंभूतं केनेदमखिलं ततम् केना वा पुनरेवेदं ग्रस्यते पृथुकुक्षिणा
What is that which first came into being? By whom is all this pervaded? And by whom again is all this consumed, whose belly is vast?
शक्तिः प्रथमसम्भूता शांत्यतीतपदोत्तरा ततो माया ततो ऽव्यक्तं शिवाच्छक्तिमतः प्रभोः
Power is the first to arise, surpassing the state beyond peace; then comes māyā, then the unmanifest, from Śiva, the lord endowed with power.
शान्त्यतीतपदं शक्तेस्ततः शान्तिपदक्रमात् ततो विद्यापदं तस्मात्प्रतिष्ठापदसंभवः
From the power comes the state beyond peace, then, in sequence, the state of peace; from that, the state of knowledge, and from that, the state of foundation arises.
निवृत्तिपदमुत्पन्नं प्रतिष्ठापदतः क्रमात् एवमुक्ता समासेन सृष्टिरीश्वरचोदिता
From the state of foundation, the state of withdrawal arises in order; thus, in summary, the creation prompted by the Lord has been described.
आनुलोम्यात्तथैतेषां प्रतिलोम्येन संहृतिः अस्मात्पञ्चपदोद्दिष्टात्परस्स्रष्टा समिष्यते
In the natural order, these arise; in the reverse, they dissolve. Beyond the fivefold method prescribed, another creator is not accepted.
कलाभिः पञ्चभिर्व्याप्तं तस्माद्विश्वमिदं जगत् अव्यक्तं कारणं यत्तदात्मना समनुष्ठितम्
Therefore, this entire universe is pervaded by the five energies; that unmanifest cause, which is established by itself, is what is intended.
महदादिविशेषांतं सृजतीत्यपि संमतम् किं तु तत्रापि कर्तृत्वं नाव्यक्तस्य न चात्मनः
It is agreed that it creates from the great principle down to the particular; yet, even there, neither the unmanifest nor the self possesses agency.
अचेतनत्वात्प्रकृतेरज्ञत्वात्पुरुषस्य च प्रधानपरमाण्वादि यावत्किञ्चिदचेतनम्
Because nature is insentient and the person is unknowing, everything from the primary substance down to the atom is without consciousness.