Devanagari
अयातयामास्तस्यासन् यामा:स्वान्तरयापना: ।
शृण्वतो ध्यायतो विष्णो: कुर्वतो ब्रुवत: कथा: ॥ ३५ ॥
Verse text
ayāta-yāmās tasyāsan
yāmāḥ svāntara-yāpanāḥ
śṛṇvato dhyāyato viṣṇoḥ
kurvato bruvataḥ kathāḥ
Synonyms
ayāta
—
yāmāḥ — time never lost
;
tasya
—
of Manu
;
āsan
—
were
;
yāmāḥ
—
the hours
;
sva
—
antara — his duration of life
;
yāpanāḥ
—
bringing to an end
;
śṛṇvataḥ
—
hearing
;
dhyāyataḥ
—
contemplating
;
viṣṇoḥ
—
of Lord Viṣṇu
;
kurvataḥ
—
acting
;
bruvataḥ
—
speaking
;
kathāḥ
—
the topics .
Translation
Consequently, although his duration of life gradually came to an end, his long life, consisting of a Manvantara era, was not spent in vain, since he ever engaged in hearing, contemplating, writing down and chanting the pastimes of the Lord.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Since he heard about the Lord, meditated on him, spoke about him and made compositions with his words about him, his passing of time, extending for a Manvantara, was not in vain.
His hours, extending over a whole Manavantara period, were not in vain (ayātayāmā). Amara-koṣa says yātayāman means worn out or decayed. Kurvataḥ means he made compositions in his own words about what he had seen, heard and spoken.
Purport
As freshly prepared food is very tasteful but if kept for three or four hours becomes stale and tasteless, so the existence of material enjoyment can endure as long as life is fresh, but at the fag end of life everything becomes tasteless, and everything appears to be vain and painful. The life of Emperor Svāyambhuva Manu, however, was not tasteless; as he grew older, his life remained as fresh as in the beginning because of his continued Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The life of a man in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is always fresh. It is said that the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening and its business is to reduce the duration of everyone’s life. But the sunrise and sunset cannot diminish the life of one who engages in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Svāyambhuva Manu’s life did not become stale after some time, for he engaged himself always in chanting about and meditating upon Lord Viṣṇu. He was the greatest
yogī
because he never wasted his time. It is especially mentioned here,
viṣṇoḥ kurvato bruvataḥ kathāḥ.
When he talked, he talked only of Kṛṣṇa and Viṣṇu, the Personality of Godhead; when he heard something, it was about Kṛṣṇa; when he meditated, it was upon Kṛṣṇa and His activities.
It is stated that his life was very long, seventy-one
yugas.
One
yuga
is completed in 4,320,000 years, seventy-one of such
yugas
is the duration of the life of a Manu, and fourteen such Manus come and go in one day of Brahma. For the entire duration of his life — 4,320,000 × 71 years — Manu engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by chanting, hearing, talking about and meditating upon Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, his life was not wasted, nor did it become stale.