Shloka 85
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
ततो वै द्वापरं नाम मिश्र: कालो भविष्यति । द्विपादहीनो धर्मश्न युगे तस्मिन् भविष्यति
tato vai dvāparaṃ nāma miśraḥ kālo bhaviṣyati | dvipāda-hīno dharmaś ca yuge tasmin bhaviṣyati ||
Then the age called Dvāpara will arise. That time will be a mixed one, where righteousness and unrighteousness are intermingled; and in that yuga, Dharma will be diminished—standing only on two feet, with two of its quarters lost.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that moral order (Dharma) is not constant across ages: in Dvāpara Yuga it becomes weakened and mixed with adharma, symbolized by Dharma losing two of its four supports.
Vaiśaṃpāyana continues a yuga-description, announcing the coming of Dvāpara as an epoch characterized by a blend of virtue and vice, where Dharma no longer stands fully but is reduced to half its former strength.