Shloka 10
कृते युगे धर्म आसीत् समग्र- स्त्रेताकाले ज्ञानमनुप्रपन्न: । बल॑ त्वासीद् द्वापरे पार्थ कृष्ण: कलौ त्वधर्म: क्षितिमिवाजगाम
kṛte yuge dharma āsīt samagraḥ | tretākāle jñānam anuprapannaḥ | balaṃ tv āsīd dvāpare pārtha kṛṣṇaḥ | kalau tv adharmaḥ kṣitim ivājagāma, pārtha ||
Bhīṣma dit : Dans l’âge Kṛta, le Dharma se tenait entier et parfait. Dans l’âge Tretā, Kṛṣṇa était établi comme connaissance et discernement accomplis. Dans l’âge Dvāpara, ô Pārtha, il était présent comme force. Mais dans l’âge Kali, l’adharma s’abattra sur la terre comme s’il y descendait pour la posséder, et l’injustice deviendra la puissance dominante.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a yuga-based moral cosmology: as time moves from Kṛta to Kali, the dominant principle shifts from complete dharma to the ascendancy of adharma. It frames ethical life as increasingly challenging in later ages, where unrighteousness tends to prevail socially and politically.
Bhīṣma, instructing Arjuna, summarizes the changing character of the four yugas. He describes how dharma, wisdom, and strength are successively prominent, and warns that in Kali Yuga adharma will seem to descend upon and overtake the earth.