Devanagari
पूर्वस्यादौ परार्धस्य ब्राह्मो नाम महानभूत् ।
कल्पो यत्राभवद्ब्रह्मा शब्दब्रह्मेति यं विदु: ॥ ३५ ॥
Verse text
pūrvasyādau parārdhasya
brāhmo nāma mahān abhūt
kalpo yatrābhavad brahmā
śabda-brahmeti yaṁ viduḥ
Synonyms
pūrvasya
—
of the first half
;
ādau
—
in the beginning
;
para
—
ardhasya — of the superior half
;
brāhmaḥ
—
Brāhma-kalpa
;
nāma
—
of the name
;
mahān
—
very great
;
abhūt
—
was manifest
;
kalpaḥ
—
millennium
;
yatra
—
whereupon
;
abhavat
—
appeared
;
brahmā
—
Lord Brahmā
;
śabda
—
brahma iti — the sounds of the Vedas
;
yam
—
which
;
viduḥ
—
they know .
Translation
In the beginning of the first half of Brahmā’s life, there was a millennium called Brāhma-kalpa, wherein Lord Brahmā appeared. The birth of the Vedas was simultaneous with Brahmā’s birth.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The first day in the first half of Brahmā’s life is called Brāhma-kalpa, which is known as Brāhma-kalpa because Brahmā was born on that day.
As described in the Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa, there are thirty days starting with the waxing pratipat-tithi and ending with the dark moon tithi, with names starting with Śveta-varāha-kalpa and ending with Pitṛ-kalpa. This makes one month of Brahmā. These months are repeated twelve times to make one year. Fifty of those years is called a parardha. The first day in the first parardha is called Brahma-kalpa or Śveta-vārāha-kalpa. It is called Brāhma-kalpa because it is Brahmā’s birth tithi. It is described in the astronomical scriptures as occurring on the śukla-pratipat of Caitra month.
Purport
According to
Padma Purāṇa
(
Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa
), in thirty days of Brahmā many
kalpas
take place, such as the Varāha-kalpa and Pitṛ-kalpa. Thirty days make one month of Brahmā, beginning from the full moon to the disappearance of the moon. Twelve such months complete one year, and fifty years complete one
parārdha,
or one half the duration of the life of Brahmā. The Śveta-varāha appearance of the Lord is the first birthday of Brahmā. The birth date of Brahmā is in the month of March, according to Hindu astronomical calculation. This statement is reproduced from the explanation of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura.