SB 3.11.8 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.11.8

लघूनि वै समाम्नाता दश पञ्च च नाडिका । ते द्वे मुहूर्त: प्रहर: षड्याम: सप्त नृणाम् ॥ ८ ॥

laghūni vai samāmnātā

[laghooni vai samaamnaataa]

daśa pañca ca nāḍikā

[dasha pancha cha naadikaa]

te dve muhūrtaḥ praharaḥ

[te dve muhoortah praharah]

ṣaḍ yāmaḥ sapta vā nṛṇām

[shad yaamah sapta vaa nrinaam]

Word-for-word

laghūni — such laghus (each of two minutes) vai — exactly samāmnātā — is called daśa pañca — fifteen ca — also nāḍikā — a nāḍikā te — of them dve — two muhūrtaḥ — a moment praharaḥ — three hours ṣaṭ — six yāmaḥ — one fourth of a day or night sapta — seven vā — or nṛṇām — of human calculation.

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

laghūni vai samāmnātā

laghūni

such laghus (each of two minutes)

vai

exactly

samāmnātā

is called

daśa pañca ca nāḍikā

daśa pañca

fifteen

also

nāḍikā

a nāḍikā

te dve muhūrtaḥ praharaḥ

of them

dve

two

muhūrtaḥ

a moment

praharaḥ

three hours

ṣaḍ yāmaḥ sapta vā nṛṇām

ṣaṭ

six

yāmaḥ

one fourth of a day or night

sapta

seven

vā

nṛṇām

of human calculation.

Fifteen laghus make one nāḍikā, which is also called a daṇḍa. Two daṇḍas make one muhūrta, and six or seven daṇḍas make one fourth of a day or night, according to human calculation.

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

Fifteen laghus make one nādīkā. Two nāḍikās make one muhūrta. Six or seven nāḍikās make a prahara or yāma for humans. Six or seven nāḍikās make a prahara or yāma. Day and night are divided into four parts. When the day or night is short then there are six nāḍikas in a prahara. When the day or night is long then there are seven nāḍikas in a prahara. This does not include the nāḍikā at the two sandhyas. Because it is impossible to list all the differences for each day of the year, the time is not fixed. This indicated by the word vā.

Personal Guidance

Even the tiniest temporal units — laghus to nāḍikās to daṇḍas — have precise names in the Vedic frame. Time is to be honored at every scale, not just in years. Spiritual culture is built on careful attention to small intervals.

Reflection Questions

What small unit of my day deserves more deliberate attention than I give it?
How would naming and honoring 30-minute blocks reshape my use of them?

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io