Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 25: Kausalyā Invokes Auspiciousness for Rāma
Text 2.25.15
ऋतवश्चैव षट्पुण्या मासाः संवत्सरास्तथा।
कलाश्च काष्ठाश्च तथा तव शर्म दिशन्तु ते॥
ṛtavaś caiva ṣaṭ puṇyā māsāḥ saṁvatsarās tathā
kalāś ca kāṣṭhāś ca tathā tava śarma diśantu te
ṛtavaḥ ca eva = seasons; ṣaṭ = the six; puṇyāḥ = pious deities of; māsāḥ = months; saṁvatsarāḥ tathā = years; kalāḥ ca = kalās; kāṣṭhāḥ = kāṣṭhās; ca tathā = and; tava = on You; śarma = happiness 2; diśantu = may bestow; te = the.
May the pious deities of the six seasons, months, years, kalās and kāṣṭhās bestow happiness on You!
1 Kausalyā prayed to the presiding deities of these durations of time to bestow happiness upon her son in the forest.
Some [authorities] state that most of the redundant statements in this section are caused by Kausalyā’s uncontrollable love for her son Rāma, due to her desire to protect Him.
GLOSS. The seasons, months, years, kalās and kāṣṭhās referred to here are those of the devas and other [celestials]. [With this meaning,] there is no redundancy here and it nicely fits in with the other words [in the benediction by Queen Kausalyā here].1
NOTE. According to Prabhupāda’s purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.11.14, kāṣṭhā is a duration of 8 seconds. According to Apte’s Sanskrit-English Dictionary, a kalā can mean “the 6oth part of one thirtieth part of a zodiacal sign, a minute of a degree.”