Shloka 4
Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma
असाधुभ्यो<र्थमादाय साधुभ्यो य: प्रयच्छति । आत्मानं संक्रमं कृत्वा कृच्छूधर्मविदेव सः,जो अपनेको सेतु बनाकर दुष्ट पुरुषोंसे धन लेकर श्रेष्ठ पुरुषोंको देता है, वह आपद्धर्मका ज्ञाता है
Bhīṣma uvāca: asādhubhyo 'rtham ādāya sādhubhyo yaḥ prayacchati | ātmānaṃ saṅkramaṃ kṛtvā kṛcchradharmavideva saḥ ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „Wer Reichtum den Bösen nimmt und ihn den Tugendhaften gibt—indem er sich selbst zur ‘Brücke’ dieses Übergangs macht—der ist wahrlich ein Kenner der Dharma in Zeiten der Not (āpaddharma), wenn schwere Entscheidungen nötig sind, um die Guten zu schützen und die Ordnung zu wahren.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
In extraordinary distress (āpaddharma), actions normally questionable—like taking wealth—can be ethically justified if directed against the wicked and used to protect and support the virtuous. The emphasis is on intention, target (the unrighteous), and outcome (sustaining the righteous), framed as a difficult but dharmic choice.
Bhishma, instructing on dharma in the Shanti Parva, explains a principle of conduct for crisis situations: a person may act as a ‘bridge’ (saṅkrama) by transferring resources from harmful people to good people, and such discernment marks one as knowledgeable in the hard law of emergency ethics.