Shloka 98
Daṇḍanīti and the King as the Cause of Yuga-Order (दण्डनीतिः राजधर्मश्च युगकारणत्वम्)
राजा कृतयुगस््रष्टा त्रेताया द्वापरस्य च । युगस्य च चतुर्थस्य राजा भवति कारणम्,राजा ही सत्ययुगकी सृष्टि करनेवाला होता है, और राजा ही त्रेता, द्वापर तथा चौथे युग कलिकी भी सृष्टिका कारण है
rājā kṛtayugasraṣṭā tretāyā dvāparasya ca | yugasya ca caturthasya rājā bhavati kāraṇam ||
Bhīṣma sprach: Der König ist gleichsam der Schöpfer des Kṛta-(Satya-)Zeitalters; und der König wird auch zur bestimmenden Ursache des Tretā- und des Dvāpara-Zeitalters sowie des vierten Zeitalters, Kali. Mit anderen Worten: Die sittliche Gestalt einer Epoche wird vor allem durch das Verhalten und die Herrschaft des Regenten geprägt.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The king’s personal virtue and public policy are presented as the chief cause behind the moral condition of society; thus the character of an age (yuga) is effectively produced by the ruler’s adherence to dharma or his fall from it.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on rajadharma, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira that governance is not merely administrative: the ruler’s conduct sets the ethical climate for the whole realm, even to the extent of being described as the cause of the rise or decline of the yugas.