Shloka 21
आत्मदर्शन-उपदेशः (Ātma-darśana Upadeśa) — Mind, Senses, and the All-pervading Self
संध्या और संध्यांशोंसहित अन्य तीन युगोंमें यह (चार हजार आठ सौ वर्षोकी) संख्या क्रमश: एक-एक चौथाई घटती जाती है-
sandhyā ca sandhyāṁśaiḥ sahitā anyeṣu triṣu yugeṣu idaṁ (catuḥsahasra-aṣṭaśata-varṣāṇāṁ) saṅkhyā kramaśaḥ eka-eka-caturthāṁśena hīyate
Wika ni Vyāsa: Kapag isinama ang mga panahong dapithapon (sandhyā) at ang mga bahagi nito (sandhyāṃśa), sa iba pang tatlong yuga ang kabuuang ito—na dito’y itinatakdang 4,800 taon—ay nababawasan sa wastong pagkakasunod ng tig-iisang-kapat sa bawat yugto. Itinatanghal ng aral na ito na ang panahon mismo’y pinamamahalaan ng saliw ng moralidad: habang sumusunod ang mga panahon, ang sukat ng dharma at ang haba ng mapalad na kaayusan ay patuloy na humihina.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the durations of the yugas (including their transitional dawn/dusk periods) follow an ordered pattern of decline: starting from a stated total (here 4,800 years), each subsequent yuga is reduced by one quarter. This numerical scheme expresses an ethical idea—dharma and stability diminish as time moves through the ages.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vyāsa is explaining the structure of cosmic time. He specifies how the measure assigned to one yuga, together with its sandhyā and sandhyāṁśa, becomes progressively smaller in the remaining three yugas by a fixed fractional reduction.