Shloka 16
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
तस्मादापत्स्वधर्मोडपि श्रूयते धर्मलक्षण: । अधर्मो जायते तस्मिन्निति वै कवयो विदु:
tasmād āpatsu dharmo 'pi śrūyate dharmalakṣaṇaḥ | adharmo jāyate tasminn iti vai kavayo viduḥ ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Darum wird in Zeiten der Katastrophe selbst Adharma bisweilen so beschrieben, als trüge er die Kennzeichen des Dharma. Doch die Weisen wissen gewiss: Handelt man gegen den Dharma — selbst unter der Last der Not — so entsteht tatsächlich Adharma. Die Not mag die Bezeichnungen verwischen, aber die moralische Folge bleibt; Härte heiligt das Unrecht nicht von selbst.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even if emergency conduct is sometimes described as ‘dharma-like,’ the wise maintain that acting against dharma still generates adharma; distress may explain actions but does not erase their ethical nature or consequences.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on conduct, Bhishma advises Yudhishthira about moral decision-making under crisis (āpaddharma), warning that necessity can lead people to justify questionable acts, yet wrongdoing remains wrongdoing.