History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c63.t2.701.3

v4.c63.t2.701.3

employs the words Kṛta¹⁷³⁷ and the other three in a metaphorical sense as representing progressively more desirable states of human activity, 'one lying down becomes Kali, when about to leave the bed he becomes Dvāpara, when rising he becomes Tretā, and when he moves about he becomes Kṛta'. The Śat. Br. V. 4. 4. 6 speaks of Kali¹⁷³⁸ as '*abhibhū*' (the vanquisher) and suggests that Kali is a throw of five that vanquishes all others. In the Chān. Up. IV. 1. 4 it is said 'as (in a game¹⁷³⁹ of dice) all the lower throws are included in the Kṛta throw which becomes victorious, so to him (to Raikva) comes (the merit of) all the good acts that people do'. Here Śaṅkara explains that Kṛta is a throw of dice having four marks, while other throws that have three, two or one mark are called Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali respectively. The Muṇḍaka Up. I. 2. 1 refers to Tretā¹⁷⁴⁰. 'This is the truth; the sacrificial rites which the sages saw in the *mantras* (i. e. as prescribed in the hymns of the Ṛgveda and other vedas) have been performed in many ways in the Tretā'. This last word is explained by Śaṅkarācārya in two ways, first as referring to the threefold priestly duties (of hotṛ, adhvaryu and udgātṛ) which are based on the three Vedas and alternatively as referring to the Tretā age. From this resume it appears that even up to the times of the latest period of Vedic literature (i. e.