Devanagari
एवंविधैरहोरात्रै: कालगत्योपलक्षितै: ।
अपक्षितमिवास्यापि परमायुर्वय: शतम् ॥ ३३ ॥
Verse text
evaṁ-vidhair aho-rātraiḥ
kāla-gatyopalakṣitaiḥ
apakṣitam ivāsyāpi
paramāyur vayaḥ-śatam
Synonyms
evam
—
thus
;
vidhaiḥ
—
by the process of
;
ahaḥ
—
days
;
rātraiḥ
—
by nights
;
kāla
—
gatyā — advancement of time
;
upalakṣitaiḥ
—
by such symptoms
;
apakṣitam
—
declined
;
iva
—
just like
;
asya
—
his
;
api
—
although
;
parama
—
āyuḥ — duration of life
;
vayaḥ
—
years
;
śatam
—
one hundred .
Translation
Thus the process of the exhaustion of the duration of life exists for every one of the living beings, including Lord Brahmā. One’s life endures for only one hundred years, in terms of the times in the different planets.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
By such days and nights characterized by movement of time, even the maximum life of Brahmā consisting of a hundred years comes to an end
The life of even Brahmā (asya) decays (apakṣitam).
yasmād bibhemy aham api dviparārdha-dhiṣṇyam
adhyāsitaḥ sakala-loka-namaskṛtaṁ yat
tepe tapo bahu-savo ’varurutsamānas
tasmai namo bhagavate ’dhimakhāya tubhyam
I feared time, even though I am situated on Brahma-loka, which is offered respects by all planets and, desiring to bring time under control, I performed many sacrifices. Now, in pure bhakti, I offer my respects to the Supreme Lord, controller of sacrifices. SB 3.9.18
Even Brahmā, fearing time, giving up enjoyment of material objects, worships the Lord constantly. Humans of short life intensely enjoy material objects and do not worship the Lord. They must make efforts in bhakti and detachment. For that reason, it is necessary to describe the nature of time.
Purport
Every living being lives for one hundred years in terms of the times in different planets for different entities. These one hundred years of life are not equal in every case. The longest duration of one hundred years belongs to Brahmā, but although the life of Brahmā is very long, it expires in the course of time. Brahmā is also afraid of his death, and thus he performs devotional service to the Lord, just to release himself from the clutches of illusory energy. Animals, of course, have no sense of responsibility, but even humans, who have developed a sense of responsibility, while away their valuable time without engaging in devotional service to the Lord; they live merrily, unafraid of impending death. This is the madness of human society. The madman has no responsibility in life. Similarly, a human being who does not develop a sense of responsibility before he dies is no better than the madman who tries to enjoy material life very happily without concern for the future. It is necessary that every human being be responsible in preparing himself for the next life, even if he has a duration of life like that of Brahmā, the greatest of all living creatures within the universe.