Shloka 34
मोक्षोपाय-निर्णयः
Determination of the Means to Liberation
“त्रेतायुग आनेपर धर्मका प्रचार एक चौथाई कम हो जाता है, द्वापरमें धर्मके दो ही पैर रह जाते हैं; परंतु कलियुगमें तो धर्मका चतुर्थ भाग ही शेष रह जाता है ।।
tretāyuge ānepare dharmasya pracāraḥ pādonaḥ bhavati; dvāpare dharmasya dvau eva pādau tiṣṭhataḥ; kaliyuge tu dharmasya caturtha-bhāga-mātraḥ śiṣyate. tathā kaliyuge prāpte rājño duścaritena ca kāla-viśeṣasya prabhāvena ca dharmasya ṣoḍaśī kalā-mātrā śeṣā bhaviṣyati.
フマトセーナは言った。「トレーターの世には、ダルマの弘まりと力は四分の一だけ減ずる。ドヴァーパラの世には、ダルマの『脚』は二本のみ残る。だがカリの世には、ダルマは四分の一しか残らぬ。さらにカリの世が到来すると、王の邪な振る舞いと、その時代そのものの特別な力によって、全きダルマは十六分の一にまで減り果てる。」この教えは、道徳秩序の衰微が時代の傾向だけでなく、統治者の不行状によっても加速され、いっそう深まることを示す。
हुमत्सेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma progressively weakens across the yugas, and in Kali it becomes extremely small; this decline is driven both by the inherent influence of the age (kāla) and by the ruler’s immoral conduct, implying that ethical leadership can either preserve or hasten the collapse of social righteousness.
Humatsena is explaining a doctrinal account of yuga-based moral degeneration, using the metaphor of dharma’s ‘legs’ and fractional portions, and emphasizing that when Kali arrives, the king’s misrule together with the time’s power leaves only a tiny remnant of dharma.