SB 4.29.21 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

संवत्सरश्चण्डवेग: कालो येनोपलक्षित: । तस्याहानीह गन्धर्वा गन्धर्व्यो रात्रय: स्मृता: । हरन्त्यायु: परिक्रान्त्या षष्ट्युत्तरशतत्रयम् ॥ २१ ॥

Verse text

saṁvatsaraś caṇḍavegaḥ kālo yenopalakṣitaḥ tasyāhānīha gandharvā gandharvyo rātrayaḥ smṛtāḥ haranty āyuḥ parikrāntyā ṣaṣṭy-uttara-śata-trayam

Synonyms

saṁvatsaraḥ — year ; caṇḍa — vegaḥ — called Caṇḍavega ; kālaḥ — time ; yena — by which ; upalakṣitaḥ — symbolized ; tasya — of the duration of life ; ahāni — days ; iha — in this life ; gandharvāḥ — Gandharvas ; gandharvyaḥ — Gandharvīs ; rātrayaḥ — nights ; smṛtāḥ — are understood ; haranti — they take away ; āyuḥ — duration of life ; parikrāntyā — by traveling ; ṣaṣṭi — sixty ; uttara — above ; śata — hundred ; trayam — three .

Translation

What was previously explained as Caṇḍavega, powerful time, is covered by days and nights, named Gandharvas and Gandharvīs. The body’s life span is gradually reduced by the passage of days and nights, which number 360.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Caṇḍavega is the year by which time is perceived. The Gandharvas are the days and the female Gandharvas are the nights. By the rotation of 360 days and nights the life span decreases. Parikrāntyā means rotating.

Purport

The word parikrāntyā means “by traveling.” The living entity travels on his chariot day and night during a year consisting of 360 (or more) days and nights. Life’s progress is taken for the unnecessary labor required to cover these 360 days and nights of life.