Shloka 18
आपद्धर्मे वैश्यवृत्तिः, विक्रय-निषेधाः, तथा ब्रह्म-क्षत्र-सम्बन्धः
Emergency Livelihood, Prohibited Trade, and Brahman–Kshatra Regulation
उन्मयदि प्रवृत्ते तु दस्युभि: संकरे कृते । सर्वे वर्णा न दुष्येयु: शस्त्रवन्तो युधिष्ठिर
unmadi pravṛtte tu dasyubhiḥ saṅkare kṛte | sarve varṇā na duṣyeyuḥ śastravanto yudhiṣṭhira ||
Bhīṣma sprach: „O Yudhiṣṭhira, wenn Räuber, von gesetzloser Raserei getrieben, die Grenzen des Dharma überschreiten und gesellschaftliche Verwirrung sowie Vermischung der Varṇas stiften, dann trifft die Menschen aller Varṇas keine Schuld, wenn sie zu den Waffen greifen, um diese Unterdrückung zu zügeln.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When society is threatened by lawless violence and breakdown of dharmic boundaries, defensive force used to stop oppression is ethically permitted—even for all varṇas—because the aim is protection and restoration of order, not aggression.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma advises Yudhiṣṭhira about exceptional circumstances: if robbers create chaos and social confusion, then armed resistance by the community is not blameworthy.