Shloka 23
कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
तस्य तावच्छती संध्या संध्यांशक्ष तथाविध: । चार हजार दिव्य वर्षोका एक सत्ययुग बताया गया है, उतने ही सौ वर्ष उसकी संध्या और संध्यांशके होते हैं (इस प्रकार कुल अड़तालीस सौ दिव्य वर्ष सत्ययुगके हैं) ।। २२३ || त्रीणि वर्षसहस्राणि त्रेतायुगमिहोच्यते
tasya tāvacchatī sandhyā sandhyāṁśaś ca tathāvidhaḥ | catvāri sahasrāṇi divya-varṣāṇi ekaṁ satya-yugam ucyate, utāni eva śata-varṣāṇi tasya sandhyā-sandhyāṁśayoḥ (evaṁ kulaṁ catuḥśatāṣṭaśatāni divya-varṣāṇi satya-yugasya) || trīṇi varṣa-sahasrāṇi tretā-yugam iha ucyate ||
Waiśampāyana berkata: “Masa senja (sandhyā) pada yuga itu berlangsung seratus (tahun ilahi), dan senja penutupnya (sandhyāṃśa) pun sama. Maka empat ribu tahun ilahi dinyatakan sebagai Satya Yuga; dengan tambahan masing-masing seratus tahun ilahi untuk peralihan awal dan akhir, jumlahnya menjadi empat ribu delapan ratus tahun ilahi. Sesudah itu, Tretā Yuga di sini disebut berdurasi tiga ribu tahun ilahi.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches the traditional Purāṇic/Mahābhārata framework of cosmic time: each yuga has a main span plus transitional junctions (sandhyā and sandhyāṃśa). Satya Yuga is defined as 4000 divine years plus 100+100 for its junctions, and Tretā Yuga is introduced as 3000 divine years, implying a graded decrease across ages.
Vaiśaṃpāyana is explaining to his listener the measured durations of the world-ages (yugas). He completes the calculation for Satya Yuga by adding its opening and closing junction periods, then begins stating the duration of the next age, Tretā Yuga.