कृते धर्म्मश्चतुष्पादः त्रेतायां पादहीनकः । द्विपादो द्वापरे देवि पादमात्रं कलौ युगे ॥ ८१ ॥
kṛtē dharmmaścatuṣpādaḥ trētāyāṁ pādahīnakaḥ | dvipādō dvāparē dēvi pādamātraṁ kalau yugē || 81 ||
Translation
In the Kṛta age dharma has four feet, in the Tretā it lacks one, in the Dvāpara it has two, O Goddess, and in the Kali age only one.
Word by word
- kṛtē
- in the Kṛta age
- dharmmaścatuṣpādaḥ
- dharma has four feet
- trētāyāṁ
- in the Tretā
- pādahīnakaḥ
- lacking one foot
- dvipādō
- with two feet
- dvāparē
- in the Dvāpara
- dēvi
- O Goddess
- pādamātraṁ
- only one foot
- kalau
- in the Kali
- yugē
- age
Meaning
The image of dharma as a bull standing on four legs, losing one in each age.