Shloka 89
Daṇḍanīti and the King as the Cause of Yuga-Order (दण्डनीतिः राजधर्मश्च युगकारणत्वम्)
अर्ध त्यक्त्वा यदा राजा नीत्यर्धमनुवर्तते | ततस्तु द्वापरं नाम स काल: सम्प्रवर्तते,जब राजा दण्डनीतिके आधे भागको त्यागकर आधेका अनुसरण करता है, तब द्वापर नामक युगका आरम्भ हो जाता है
ardhaṃ tyaktvā yadā rājā nītyardham anuvartate | tatastu dvāparaṃ nāma sa kālaḥ sampravartate ||
ビーシュマは言った。「王が正しき治国の術の半ばを捨て、半分の策のみを追うとき、『ドヴァーパラ』（Dvāpara-yuga）と名づけられた時代が始まってゆく。すなわち、統治がダルマへの全き帰依から、部分的で妥協を含む支配へと衰えることこそ、時の転回—道徳の頽廃へ向かう徴—なのである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A society’s moral age is shaped by the ruler’s commitment to dharmic governance: when a king compromises and practices only partial nīti (righteous policy), it signals a systemic decline, described here as the onset of Dvāpara.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on kingship and dharma, Bhishma explains to the listener how the yugas are recognized through the quality of rule; he states that when kings abandon a significant portion of proper statecraft, the time-character shifts into Dvāpara.