Shloka 5
Varṇasaṃkara: Causes, Classifications, and Conduct-based Recognition (वर्णसंकरः—हेतु-जाति-आचारनिर्णयः)
एतत् तु नापरे चक्कुरपरे जातु साधव: । साधूनां पुनराचारो गरीयान् धर्मलक्षण:,कुछ लोगोंका कहना है कि दूसरे सत्पुरुषोंने ऐसा नहीं किया है और कुछ कहते हैं कि अन्य सत्पुरुषोंने भी कभी-कभी ऐसा किया है। अतः श्रेष्ठ पुरुषोंका आचार ही धर्मका सर्वश्रेष्ठ लक्षण है
etat tu nāpare cakṣur apare jātu sādhavaḥ | sādhūnāṃ punar ācāro garīyān dharmalakṣaṇaḥ ||
قال بهيشما: «يقول قومٌ إنّ رجالاً صالحين آخرين لم يفعلوا هذا، ويقول آخرون إنّ الصالحين قد فعلوه أحياناً. لذلك فإن سيرة الأخيار وسمتهم (ācāra) هي العلامة الأثقل والأوثق التي يُعرَف بها الدارما.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When scriptural or theoretical claims conflict about what is permissible, the most reliable indicator of dharma is the established conduct (ācāra) of genuinely virtuous people; their lived practice carries decisive ethical authority.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he addresses disagreement about whether certain actions were ever performed by the righteous. He resolves the dispute by asserting that the behavior of true sādhus is the strongest criterion for identifying dharma.