Shloka 446
Brahmacarya-Upāya: Jñāna, Śauca, and the Mind’s Role in Desire (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय २०७)
नैते कृतयुगे तात चरन्ति पृथिवीमिमाम् । नरेश्वर! ये सब-के-सब चाण्डाल, कौए और गीधोंके समान आचार-विचारवाले हैं। ये सत्ययुगमें इस पृथ्वीपर नहीं विचरण करते हैं
naite kṛtayuge tāta caranti pṛthivīm imām | nareśvara ye sarve caṇḍālāḥ kāka-gṛdhravat ācāra-vicāravantaḥ | ete satyayuge ’smin pṛthivyāṁ na vicarante |
Bhīṣma sprach: „Mein lieber Sohn, solche Menschen ziehen in der Kṛta- (Satya-)Zeit nicht über diese Erde. O König der Menschen, sie alle sind wie Chāṇḍālas: in Denken und Handeln gleichen sie Krähen und Geiern. Im Zeitalter der Wahrheit finden sie keinen Platz, um auf dieser Erde zu leben und umherzustreifen.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma contrasts the moral purity of the Kṛta/Satya Yuga with later degeneration: people driven by base instincts—likened to crows and vultures—are incompatible with an age grounded in truth, restraint, and righteous conduct.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs the king on dharma and the changing standards across the yugas. Here he condemns certain degraded types of behavior and states that such persons do not ‘roam’ in the Satya/Kṛta Yuga, emphasizing the ethical atmosphere of that age.