History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.773

v6.c82.773

¹⁰⁸³ It was said by Manu (I 81-82) that Kṛta was an age in which Dharma was four-footed and perfect, that in the other ages dharma declined successively by one foot, that theft, falsehood and fraud increase in proportion Then Manu further avers (I 83-86) that the length of human life in the four ages is respectively 400, 300, 200 and 100 years, that the set of duties differ in the four ages Dharma is said to be four-footed because Manu VIII 16 identifies dharma with vṛṣa (bull). Both Plato and Aristotle believed that every art and science had many times developed to its apogee and then deteriorated.