Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.22.5

atha sa esha ātmā lokānām dyāv-āprithivyor antarena nabho-valayasya kālacakra-gato dvādaśa māsān bhuńkte rāśi-samjñān samvatsarāvayavān māsah paksha-dvayam divā naktam ceti sapādarksha-dvayam upadiśanti yāvatā shashtham amśam bhuñjīta sa vai ritur ity upadiśyate samvatsarāvayavah

SYNONYMS

atha — therefore; sah — He; eshah — this; ātmā — the living force; lokānām — of all the three worlds; dyāv-ā-prithivyoh antarena — between the upper and lower portions of the universe; nabhah-valayasya — of outer space; kāla-cakra-gatah — positioned in the wheel of time; dvādaśa māsān — twelve months; bhuńkte — passes; rāśi-samjñān — named after the zodiac signs; samvatsara-avayavān — the parts of the whole year; māsah — one month; paksha-dvayam — two fortnights; divā — a day; naktam ca — and a night; iti — thus; sapāda-riksha-dvayam — by stellar calculations, two and a quarter constellations; upadiśanti — they instruct; yāvatā — by as much time; shashtham amśam — one sixth of his orbit; bhuñjīta — pass; sah — that portion; vai — indeed; rituh — a season; iti — thus; upadiśyate — is instructed; samvatsara-avayavah — a part of a year.

TRANSLATION

The sun-god, who is Nārāyana, or Vishnu, the soul of all the worlds, is situated in outer space between the upper and lower portions of the universe. Passing through twelve months on the wheel of time, the sun comes in touch with twelve different signs of the zodiac and assumes twelve different names according to those signs. The aggregate of those twelve months is called a samvatsara, or an entire year. According to lunar calculations, two fortnights — one of the waxing moon and the other of the waning — form one month. That same period is one day and night for the planet Pitriloka. According to stellar calculations, a month equals two and one quarter constellations. When the sun travels for two months, a season passes, and therefore the seasonal changes are considered parts of the body of the year.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness