Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 8, Verse 17
सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद् ब्रह्मणो विदुः । रात्रिं युगसहस्रान्तां तेऽहोरात्रविदो जनाः
sahasrayugaparyantamaharyad brahmaṇo viduḥ | rātriṃ yugasahasrāntāṃ te'horātravido janāḥ
Translation
They — those people who know day and night — know that the day of Brahmā is a thousand yugas long and the night is a thousand yugas long.
— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri
Word meanings
- sahasrayugaparyantam
- thousand, yugas, boundary, of which, that
- ahaḥ
- day
- yat
- which
- brahmaṇaḥ
- of Brahmā
- viduḥ
- know
- rātrim
- the night
- yugasahasrāntām
- of yugas, by (a) thousand, end, of which, that
- te
- they
- ahorātravidaḥ
- day, and, night, and, know, thus
- janāḥ
- people
Śaṅkarācārya's commentary
Brahmā is the Prajāpati, the Virāj. Those persons who know how to compute Time know that Brahmā's day is a thousand yugas long, and that His night is of the same duration as His day. Because the worlds are thus limited by time, therefore they return again.