Sanskrit Prakrit Jain Vyakaran aur Kosh ki Parampara

Author(s): Chandanmalmuni, Nathmalmuni, Others
Publisher: Kalugani Janma Shatabdi Samaroha Samiti Chapar

Page 565

Semantic Changes in Kita, Treta, Dvapar and Kalı· 73
But the commentator Nilakantha interprets the words Krta etc of the line
Na tada bhavita Treta etc
as the names of the ages and misses the mark It is through an exalted strain of ingenuity that he fits the 'ages' into the context He says that krta implies Moksa for in this age it is Moksa alone which is coveted, the other three 'Purusārthas' being always at hand. In the same way he interprets Tretā as Dharma and Dvāpara as Artha and Kāma Thus the whole line according to him means that the war will not deliver any Purusartha to Duryodhana and his friends It will only bring about their annihilation A very ingenious interpretation indeed110 But it is obstructed by the last verse of Krishna's speech in the same chapter When Karna would not be dissuaded Krishna concludes that in the inevitable war 'Duryodhana's followers would die and attain the highest course Now the highest course for the dead is obviously Moksa The above interpretation of Nilakantha denies all the Purusãi thas to Duryodhana and his side but the original vouchsafes the highest one!"'11
This meandering on the part of the commentator is on account of the original denotations of the words viz those associated with the same of dice becoming comparatively obsolete in course of time
In the Mahabharata there are numerous examples of these words being used as the names of the four consecutive ages with elaborations upon their respective nature and extent In chapter 188 of the Vana Paiva Mārkandeya relates to the Pandavās the duration of the ages viz Krta, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kalı He says, "There are four thousand years in Kitayuga, its morning and evening each comprises four hundred years In Treta there are three thousand years, its morning and evening each comprises three hundred years, Dvapara has two thousand years, its morning and evening each has two hundred years Kalı proper lasts for one thousand years, its morning and evening each consists of one hundred years Kalı having been spent up Krta sets in again and thus the cycle consisting of twelve thousand years