346
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 5, Ch. 22]
the Vedic literature. These Vedic calculations are steady; the astronomical calculations made long ago and recorded in the Vedic literature are correct even now. Whether the Vedic calculations or modern ones are better may remain a mystery for others, but as far as we are concerned, we accept the Vedic calculations to be correct.
TEXT 9
अथ चापूर्यमाणाभिश्च कलाभिरमराणां क्षीयमाणाभिश्च कलाभिः पितणामहोरात्राणि पूर्वपक्षापरपक्षाभ्यां वितन्वानः सर्वजीवनिवहप्राणो जीवश्चैकमेकं नक्षत्रं त्रिशता मुहूर्तैर्भुङ्क्ते ॥ ९ ॥
atha cāpūryamāṇābhiś ca kalābhir amarāṇām kṣīyamāṇābhiś ca kalābhiḥ pitīṇām aho-rātrāṇi pūrva-pakṣāpara-pakṣābhyām vitanvānaḥ sarva-jīva-nivaha-prāṇo jīvaś caikam ekam nakṣatram trimśatā muhūrtair bhuṅkte.
atha—thus; ca—also; āpūryamāṇābhiḥ—gradually increasing; ca— and; kalābhiḥ—by the parts of the moon; amarāṇām—of the demigods; kṣīyamāṇābhiḥ—by gradually decreasing; ca—and; kalābhiḥ—by parts of the moon; pitīṇām—of those on the planet known as Pitrloka; ahaḥ- rātrāṇi—the days and nights; pūrva-pakṣa-apara-pakṣābhyām—by the period of waxing and waning; vitanvānaḥ—distributing; sarva-jīva- nivaha—of the total living entities; prāṇaḥ—the life; jīvaḥ—the chief living being; ca—also; ekam ekam—one after another; nakṣatram—a constellation of stars; trimśatā—by thirty; muhūrtaiḥ—muhūrtas; bhuṅkte—passes through.
TRANSLATION
When the moon is waxing, the illuminating portions of it in- crease daily, thus creating day for the demigods and night for the pitās. When the moon is waning, however, it causes night for the demigods and day for the pitās. In this way the moon passes through each constellation of stars in thirty muhūrtas [an entire day]. The moon is the source of nectarean coolness that influences the growth of food grains, and therefore the moon-god is con-