महर्षिभिस्ततस्तैस्तैः क्षीणे कृतयुगे पुरा । क्रमात् क्रियाक्रमे शुद्धे पृथिव्यां तनुतां गते ॥ १० ॥
maharṣibhistatastaistaiḥ kṣīṇē kṛtayugē purā | kramāt kriyākramē śuddhē pṛthivyāṁ tanutāṁ gatē || 10 ||
Translation
Then, long ago, when the Kṛta age had waned, and the pure order of rites had by degrees grown thin upon the earth,
Word by word
- maharṣibhis
- (maharṣibhiḥ) by the great sages
- tatas
- (tataḥ) then
- tais
- (taiḥ) by those
- kṣīṇē
- had waned
- kṛtayugē
- the Kṛta age
- purā
- long ago
- kramāt
- by degrees
- kriyā
- of rites
- kramē
- the order
- śuddhē
- pure
- pṛthivyāṁ
- upon the earth
- tanutāṁ
- thin
- gatē
- had grown
Meaning
Verses 10 and 11 are one sentence. Here decline is told as history. Tanutāṁ gate, grown thin: the rites are not abandoned at once but worn away, like cloth. The commentary describes that pure order as untouched by passion and greed, so what thins is the spirit of the rite. A rite can still be done long after it has stopped being pure.