Chapter 20

Vishnu Smriti 20

The northern course of the sun (uttarāyaṇa) is the day of the gods. // Vi_20.1 //

The southern course (dakṣiṇāyana) is their night. // Vi_20.2 //

A year is their day and night. // Vi_20.3 //

Thirty of these are a month. // Vi_20.4 //

Twelve months are a year. // Vi_20.5 //

Twelve hundred divine years are the Kali Yuga. // Vi_20.6 //

Double that is the Dvāpara Yuga. // Vi_20.7 //

Triple that is the Tretā Yuga. // Vi_20.8 //

Quadruple that is the Kṛta Yuga. // Vi_20.9 //

Twelve thousand divine years are a Catur-yuga (an age of the four yugas). // Vi_20.10 //

Seventy-one Catur-yugas are a Manvantara. // Vi_20.11 //

A thousand Catur-yugas are a Kalpa. // Vi_20.12 //

And that is a day of the Grandfather (Brahma). // Vi_20.13 //

And his night is of the same duration. // Vi_20.14 //

By this kind of day and night, and by the calculation of months and years, the lifespan of every Brahma is one hundred years. // Vi_20.15 //

And the day of Puruṣa (the Supreme Being) is measured by the lifespan of Brahma. // Vi_20.16 //

At its end is the great dissolution (mahākalpa). // Vi_20.17 //

And his night is of the same duration. // Vi_20.18 //

There is no count of the days and nights of Puruṣa that have passed. // Vi_20.19 //

Nor of those that are to come. // Vi_20.20 //

Because time is without beginning or end. // Vi_20.21 //

Thus, in this unanchored time, which flows on forever, I see no being whose existence could be permanent. || Vi_20.22 ||

The sands of the Ganges and the drops of rain when Vāsava (Indra) showers, Can be counted in this world, but not the Grandfathers (Brahmas) who have passed. || Vi_20.23 ||

In every Kalpa, fourteen lords of the gods perish, And fourteen Manus, who are foremost in all the worlds. || Vi_20.24 ||

Many thousands of Indras and myriads of Daitya-lords Have been destroyed by time; what then is to be said of men? || Vi_20.25 ||

Many royal sages, endowed with all virtues, And gods and Brahmanical sages have met their end through time. || Vi_20.26 ||

Even those who are capable of causing the creation and destruction of this world, They too are carried away by time; for time is indeed insurmountable. || Vi_20.27 ||

Every being, overcome by time, is led to the next world; The creature is bound by the fetters of its deeds—what cause is there for lamentation? || Vi_20.28 ||

For one who is born, death is certain, and for one who has died, birth is certain;[^1] In this unavoidable matter, there is no help in this world. || Vi_20.29 ||

Since people, by grieving, do not help the deceased here, Therefore one must not weep, but perform the rites according to one's ability. || Vi_20.30 ||

He whose two companions, good and evil deeds, go with him, What use has he of relatives, whether they grieve or not? || Vi_20.31 ||

While the relatives are in āśauca, the deceased spirit finds no peace; Therefore, it comes only to those who offer the funeral cake and water. || Vi_20.32 ||

Before the sapiṇḍīkaraṇa (the rite uniting the deceased with the ancestors), he who has died becomes a preta (a departed spirit); To him who has gone to the world of the pretas, give food and a pitcher of water. || Vi_20.33 ||

Having gone to the world of the ancestors, he partakes of food at the śrāddha, equal to the svadhā offering; Therefore, to him who has gone to the world of the ancestors, offer the śrāddha. || Vi_20.34 ||

Whether in the state of a god, in a place of torment, or in the womb of an animal, Or as a human, he receives the śrāddha offered by his relatives. || Vi_20.35 ||

When a śrāddha is performed, nourishment for the deceased and the performer is certain; Therefore, a śrāddha must always be performed, abandoning useless grief. || Vi_20.36 ||

This much and no more must always be done by the relatives of the deceased; A man, by grieving, helps neither the deceased nor himself. || Vi_20.37 ||

Seeing the world without a protector and relatives dying, O men, always choose dharma alone for your companion. || Vi_20.38 ||

A deceased relative is unable to follow a dead man; For everyone except the wife, the path of Yama is barred. || Vi_20.39 ||

Dharma alone follows him, wherever he may go; Indeed, in this insubstantial world of men, perform dharma without delay. || Vi_20.40 ||

What is to be done tomorrow, one should do today; what is for the afternoon, in the forenoon; For death does not wait to see if his work is done or not. || Vi_20.41 ||

While he is attached to his field, shop, or house, his mind gone elsewhere, Death, like a she-wolf seizing a lamb, carries him away. || Vi_20.42 ||

Time has no one who is dear, nor is there anyone it hates; When the store of life-sustaining karma is exhausted, it forcibly carries a person away. || Vi_20.43 ||

One whose time has not come does not die, even if pierced by a hundred arrows; But one whose time has come does not live, even if touched by the tip of a kuśa blade. || Vi_20.44 ||

Neither medicines, nor sacred formulas, nor oblations, nor repeated prayers, Can save a man seized by death or by old age. || Vi_20.45 ||

An impending calamity, even with a hundred precautions, Cannot be averted; what cause is there for lamentation? || Vi_20.46 ||

Just as a calf finds its mother among a thousand cows, So a past deed certainly finds its doer. || Vi_20.47 ||

Beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their middle, And unmanifest again in their end; what cause is there for lamentation? || Vi_20.48 ||

Just as in this body, the embodied soul passes through childhood, youth, and old age, So it passes into another body; a wise man is not deluded by this. || Vi_20.49 ||

Just as a man, having cast off his old clothes, takes on new ones, So the embodied soul takes on a new body, determined by its deeds. || Vi_20.50 ||

Weapons do not cut it, fire does not burn it, Waters do not wet it, nor does the wind dry it. || Vi_20.51 ||

It is uncuttable, unburnable, unwettable, and undryable; It is eternal, all-pervading, stable, immovable, and everlasting. || Vi_20.52 ||

It is said to be unmanifest, inconceivable, and unchangeable; Therefore, knowing it to be thus, you should not grieve. || Vi_20.53 ||