Shloka 91
Daṇḍanīti and the King as the Cause of Yuga-Order (दण्डनीतिः राजधर्मश्च युगकारणत्वम्)
दण्डनीतिं परित्यज्य यदा कार्त्स्न्येन भूमिप: । प्रजा: क्लिश्षात्ययोगेन प्रवर्तेत तदा कलि:
daṇḍanītiṁ parityajya yadā kārtsnyena bhūmipaḥ | prajāḥ kliśyāty-ayogena pravarteta tadā kaliḥ ||
毗湿摩说：当国王全然抛弃“檀陀尼提”（daṇḍanīti，刑政与治国之学），并以不当、卑劣之手段开始折磨其臣民时，迦梨纪（Kali Yuga）便兴起——这标志着道德与社会的衰败。此偈以公正之治为伦理之责：怠弃有纪律的治理，便是让混乱与苦难进入国土的门户。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s dharma includes maintaining daṇḍanīti—just, disciplined governance. When a king abandons it and harms people through unfit policies, societal decay (Kali) begins.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma warns Yudhiṣṭhira that misrule—especially the total neglect of lawful governance—creates the conditions identified as the rise of Kali.