Shloka 88
Daṇḍanīti and the King as the Cause of Yuga-Order (दण्डनीतिः राजधर्मश्च युगकारणत्वम्)
अशुभस्य चतुर्थाशस्त्रीनंशाननुवर्तते | कृष्टपच्यैव पृथिवी भवन्त्योषधयस्तथा
aśubhasya caturthāṃśas trīn aṃśān anuvartate | kṛṣṭapacyāiva pṛthivī bhavanty oṣadhayas tathā ||
Bhīṣma dit : Lorsque le quart d’inauspice suit derrière les trois parts (du mérite), le monde entre dans un état semblable au commencement de l’âge de Tretā. Alors la terre ne donne le grain que si elle est labourée et ensemencée, et les plantes médicinales naissent pareillement par cette culture—signe d’un déclin, de l’abondance sans effort vers une dépendance accrue à l’égard d’un labeur humain discipliné sous un pouvoir juste.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral and social conditions are linked to righteous governance and the balance of merit and demerit: as inauspiciousness increases (even as a subordinate ‘fourth part’), nature’s spontaneous abundance diminishes and human society must rely more on disciplined effort (cultivation), reflecting a step down from a higher yuga.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma and royal policy (daṇḍanīti), he describes a yuga-transition scenario: when the world’s moral balance shifts so that a portion of ‘aśubha’ trails the dominant ‘good,’ the age resembles the onset of Tretā, marked by the earth producing crops and herbs only through ploughing and sowing.