8.17
सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद् ब्रह्मणो विदुः ।
रात्रिं युगसहस्रान्तां तेऽहोरात्रविदो जनाः ॥
sahasrayugaparyantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ
rātriṃ yugasahasrāntāṃ te 'horātravido janāḥ
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) continues. He measures the day and the night of the ब्रह्मन् Brahmā whose world was the limit in 8.16.
The verse
Those who know day and night know the day of Brahmā (ब्रह्मा) that ends at a thousand ages, and the night that ends at a thousand ages.
नेपालीमा
दिन र रात चिन्नेहरूले ब्रह्माको त्यो दिन चिन्छन् जो हजार युगमा सकिन्छ, र त्यो रात जो हजार युगमा सकिन्छ।
Where it sits
8.16 said the worlds return, up through Brahmā's (ब्रह्मा). This verse says why a stay there is not an exit. Brahmā's (ब्रह्मा) world has a day and a night. A thousand ages is one daytime. The beings inside that clock come and go with it, which is 8.18 and 8.19.
Split: सहस्र-युग-पर्यन्तम् + अहः + यत् + ब्रह्मणः + विदुः + रात्रिम् + युग-सहस्र-अन्ताम् + ते + अहस्-रात्र-विदः + जनाः
sahasra-yuga-paryantam + ahaḥ + yat + brahmaṇaḥ + viduḥ + rātrim + yuga-sahasra-antām + te + ahas-rātra-vidaḥ + janāḥ
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| सहस्र-युग-पर्यन्तम् | sahasra-yuga-paryantam | accusative neuter | ending at a thousand ages. paryanta (पर्यन्त) "limit, up to." Agrees with ahaḥ (अहः). |
| अहः | ahaḥ | accusative of ahan (अहन्) | a day. |
| यत् | yat | accusative neuter | which. |
| ब्रह्मणः | brahmaṇaḥ | genitive of brahman (ब्रह्मन्) | of Brahmā (ब्रह्मा). Masculine here: the one who has this day. Not the neuter brahma (ब्रह्म) of 8.3. |
| विदुः | viduḥ | perfect, 3rd plural of vid (विद्) | they know. |
| रात्रिम् | rātrim | accusative | a night. |
| युग-सहस्र-अन्ताम् | yuga-sahasra-antām | accusative feminine | ending in a thousand ages. Agrees with rātrim (रात्रिम्). |
| ते | te | nominative plural | those. |
| अहस्-रात्र-विदः | ahas-rātra-vidaḥ | nominative plural | knowers of day and night. |
| जनाः | janāḥ | nominative plural | people. |
The phrases
सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तम् अहः यत् ब्रह्मणः sahasrayugaparyantam ahaḥ yat brahmaṇaḥ is the day. Which day of Brahmā (ब्रह्मा) has a thousand ages as its limit. ahaḥ (अहः) is the object of viduḥ (विदुः).
rātriṃ yugasahasrāntām (रात्रिं युगसहस्रान्ताम्) is the second object, the night, with the same limit. The day and the night are the same length. One is neuter, one is feminine, so the adjective of "ending" changes: paryantam (पर्यन्तम्) with ahaḥ (अहः), antām (अन्ताम्) with rātrim (रात्रिम्).
te ahorātravidaḥ janāḥ (ते अहोरात्रविदः जनाः) is who knows. Those people who know what a day and a night are, at this scale. They are the subject of viduḥ (विदुः).
Sanskrit in this line
अहः + यत् ahaḥ + yat is recited ahar yat (अहर्यत्). Visarga before y (य्) becomes r (र्). Then यत् + ब्रह्मणः yat + brahmaṇaḥ is yad brahmaṇaḥ (यद् ब्रह्मणः), because t (त्) before the voiced b (ब्) becomes d (द्). The recited cluster ahar yad brahmaṇaḥ (अहर्यद् ब्रह्मणः) is three words: ahaḥ (अहः), yat (यत्), brahmaṇaḥ (ब्रह्मणः).
ते + अहः te + ahaḥ inside the compound's front is te 'ho (तेऽहो). ए + अ e + a drops the a (अ) and leaves the avagraha, as dehe 'smin (देहेऽस्मिन्) did.
Say it back
The length of the day, the length of the night, and whose day it is. If brahmaṇaḥ (ब्रह्मणः) is read as the neuter brahman of 8.3, the day has no one whose day it is.