Shloka 35
Yoga-kṛtya (योककृत्य) — Vyāsa on Sense-Restraint, Obstacles, and Brahman-Realization
त्रेतायां संहता वेदा यज्ञा वर्णाश्रमास्तथा । संरोधादायुषस्त्वेते भ्रश्यन्ते द्वापरे युगे,त्रेतायुगमें वेद, यज्ञ और वर्णाश्रम-धर्म सुव्यवस्थितरूपसे पालित होते थे; परंतु द्वापरयुगमें आयुकी न्यूनता होनेसे लोगोंमें उनके पालनका उत्साह कम हो गया--वे वेद यज्ञ आदिसे च्युत होने लगे
tretāyāṃ saṃhatā vedā yajñā varṇāśramās tathā | saṃrodhād āyuṣas tv ete bhraśyante dvāpare yuge ||
Vyāsa said: In the Tretā age, the Vedas were held together in an undivided form, and so too were the sacrificial rites and the disciplines of the social and spiritual orders properly maintained. But in the Dvāpara age, because human lifespan becomes constrained, these institutions begin to decline—people gradually fall away from the Vedas, sacrifice, and the duties of varṇa and āśrama.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
As the yugas progress, human capacity—especially lifespan and steadiness—diminishes, and with it the ability to preserve Vedic learning, sacrificial discipline, and varṇāśrama duties; dharma declines not merely by doctrine but by weakened human endurance and commitment.
Vyāsa is explaining a yuga-based account of social and religious change: in Tretā, Vedic and ritual order is stable and well-observed; by Dvāpara, due to curtailed lifespan, people lose vigor for sustained observance, and established institutions begin to erode.