noun, adverb
eternity; for evermore; for many generations to come
A yojijukugo expressing an extremely long, almost endless span of time. Often used in solemn or literary contexts to emphasize permanence or an unending future.
この教えは万劫末代まで伝えられるべきだ。
This teaching should be passed down for all eternity.
万劫末代の平和を願う。
I wish for peace that lasts forevermore.
永遠 is the common word for 'eternity' in modern Japanese. 万劫末代 is a much rarer, more literary yojijukugo with a similar meaning but a stronger nuance of spanning countless generations.
未来永劫 also means 'for all eternity' and is a yojijukugo, but it is more common than 万劫末代 and focuses on the endless future from now on.
A yojijukugo composed of 万 (ten thousand, myriad), 劫 (kalpa, an extremely long period in Buddhist cosmology), 末 (end, future), and 代 (generation, era). The combination emphasizes an unimaginably vast stretch of time, essentially 'for myriad kalpas and future generations'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the phrase draws on Buddhist concepts of cosmic time.