History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.700

v4.c63.t2.700

From the Mahābhārata (Śānti 59), Manu (I. 81), Nārada (I. 1-2), Bṛhaspati and the Purāṇas it is clear that they all believed in the existence of an ideally perfect community in the dim past followed by gradual degeneracy and decline in morals, health and length of life. But they also believed that a cycle of decline would be followed in the far distant future by another of moral perfection. The only pity is that all works that are extant think that they are in the midst of a very sinful age and there is not a single work which thinks that the era of perfection may dawn in the very near future.