Text 16
vidura uvāca
pitṛ-deva-manuṣyāṇām
āyuḥ param idaṁ smṛtam
pareṣāṁ gatim ācakṣva
ye syuḥ kalpād bahir vidaḥ
viduraḥ uvāca — Vidura said; pitṛ — the Pitā planets; deva — the heavenly planets; manuṣyāṇām — and that of the human beings; āyuḥ — duration of life; param — final; idam — in their own measurement; smṛtam — calculated; pareṣām — of the superior living entities; gatim — duration of life; ācakṣva — kindly calculate; ye — all those who; syuḥ — are; kalpāt — from the millennium; bahiḥ — outside; vidaḥ — greatly learned.
Vidura said: I now understand the life durations of the residents of the Pitā planets and heavenly planets as well as that of the human beings. Now kindly inform me of the durations of life of those greatly learned living entities who are beyond the range of a kalpa.
The partial dissolution of the universe that takes place at the end of Brahmā’s day does not affect all the planetary systems. The planets of highly learned living entities like the sages Sanaka and Bhṛgu are not affected by the dissolutions of the millenniums. All the planets are of different types, and each is controlled by a different kāla-cakra, or schedule of eternal time. The time of the earth planet is not applicable to other, more elevated planets. Therefore, Vidura herein inquires about the duration of life on other planets.