Devanagari
संवत्सर: परिवत्सर इडावत्सर एव च ।
अनुवत्सरो वत्सरश्च विदुरैवं प्रभाष्यते ॥ १४ ॥
Verse text
saṁvatsaraḥ parivatsara
iḍā-vatsara eva ca
anuvatsaro vatsaraś ca
viduraivaṁ prabhāṣyate
Synonyms
saṁvatsaraḥ
—
orbit of the sun
;
parivatsaraḥ
—
circumambulation of Bṛhaspati
;
iḍā
—
vatsaraḥ — orbit of the stars
;
eva
—
as they are
;
ca
—
also
;
anuvatsaraḥ
—
orbit of the moon
;
vatsaraḥ
—
one calendar year
;
ca
—
also
;
vidura
—
O Vidura
;
evam
—
thus
;
prabhāṣyate
—
they are so told .
Translation
There are five different names for the orbits of the sun, moon, stars and luminaries in the firmament, and they each have their own saṁvatsara.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Vidura! The sun’s full revolution through the zodiac belt is called a saṁvatsara. The full revolution of Jupiter through the zodiac is called parivatsara. The year for twenty-seven constellations is called a vatsara. The lunar year is called an anuvatsara. The remaining constellations have a year called idā-vatsara.
The planets, constellations and other constellations have been described. This verse gives the different names of the years for the orbiting sun and other heavenly bodies. One year for the sun is called a saṁvatsara (365.25 days). One year for Jupiter is called a parivatsara (11.87 years). One year for the moon is called an anuvatsara (327.6 days). [Note: A lunar year is twelve lunar months from full moon to full moon. ] Since there is no orbital motion of the constellations time is measured using the moon’s movements. For the twenty-seven constellations, twelve months of twenty-seven days makes a vatsara (324 days). Because of there is no measuring system in relation to the remaining constellations, they have a year called idā-vatsara with solar months of thirty days (total of 360 days).
Purport
The subject matters of physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, time and space dealt with in the above verses of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
are certainly very interesting to students of the particular subject, but as far as we are concerned, we cannot explain them very thoroughly in terms of technical knowledge. The subject is summarized by the statement that above all the different branches of knowledge is the supreme control of
kāla,
the plenary representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nothing exists without Him, and therefore everything, however wonderful it may appear to our meager knowledge, is but the work of the magical wand of the Supreme Lord. As far as time is concerned, we beg to subjoin herewith a table of timings in terms of the modern clock.
One
truṭi
— 8/13,500 second
One vedha — 8/135 second
One lava — 8/45 second
One
nimeṣa
— 8/15 second
One
kṣaṇa
— 8/5 second
One
kāṣṭhā
— 8 seconds
One laghu — 2 minutes
One
daṇḍa
— 30 minutes
One prahara — 3 hours
One day — 12 hours
One night — 12 hours
One
pakṣa
— 15 days
Two
pakṣas
comprise one month, and twelve months comprise one calendar year, or one full orbit of the sun. A human being is expected to live up to one hundred years. That is the way of the controlling measure of eternal time.
The
Brahma-saṁhitā
(5.52)
affirms this control in this way:
yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ
rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ
yasyājṣayā bhramati saṁbhṛta-kāla-cakro
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, under whose control even the sun, which is considered to be the eye of the Lord, rotates within the fixed orbit of eternal time. The sun is the king of all planetary systems and has unlimited potency in heat and light.”