Shloka 77
Sabhā Parva, Adhyāya 68 — Pāṇḍavānāṃ Vanavāsa-prasthānaḥ; Duḥśāsana-nindā; Pāṇḍava-pratijñāḥ
विद्धो धर्मो हाधर्मेण सभां यत्रोपपद्यते । न चास्य शल्यं कृन्तन्ति विद्धास्तत्र सभासद:
viddho dharmo hādharmena sabhāṃ yatroppadyate | na cāsya śalyaṃ kṛntanti viddhāstatra sabhāsadaḥ ||
Wenn Dharma von Adharma durchbohrt ist und eine königliche Versammlung über dieser Wunde zusammentritt, schneiden die Mitglieder des Hofes—obwohl sie die Verletzung kennen—den Widerhaken nicht heraus. In einer solchen sabhā wird wissendes Schweigen zur Mitschuld, und die Gerechtigkeit bleibt verwundet, weil niemand wagt, die Ursache des Unrechts zu entfernen.
कश्यप उवाच
Educational Q&A
A court or community becomes ethically corrupted when it allows Adharma to wound Dharma and then refuses to remove the ‘barb’—the concrete cause of injustice. Knowing what is wrong is not enough; responsible speech and corrective action are required, especially from those seated in authority.
Kaśyapa comments on the moral failure of an assembly: Dharma has been injured by wrongdoing, yet the sabhāsadas, despite recognizing the harm, do not act to remedy it. The verse condemns the passivity of courtiers who permit injustice to persist within the very institution meant to uphold order.