Shloka 84
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
प्रोक्षिता यत्र पशवो वध प्राप्स्यन्ति वै मखे । यत्र पादश्षतुर्थो वै धर्मस्य न भविष्यति,“उस युगमें यज्ञमें मन्त्रोंद्वारा पवित्र किये गये पशुओंका वध किया जायगा- और धर्मका एक पाद--चतुर्थ अंश कम हो जायगा
prokṣitā yatra paśavo vadhaṃ prāpsyanti vai makhe | yatra pādaś caturtho vai dharmasya na bhaviṣyati ||
वैशम्पायन उवाच— “तस्मिन् युगे मखे मन्त्रप्रोक्षिताः पशवोऽपि वधं प्राप्स्यन्ति। तत्र धर्मस्य पादश्चतुर्थो न भविष्यति।”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that Dharma can diminish when ritual authority is used to justify harm: even consecration by mantras does not prevent an act from becoming ethically degraded, and such normalization of violence signals a measurable decline of righteousness (one quarter of Dharma lost).
Vaiśampāyana describes characteristics of a deteriorating age: sacrifices will involve the killing of mantra-purified animals, and alongside this ritualized violence, the world’s Dharma will be reduced—one of its four ‘feet’ will no longer remain.