Shloka 34
आपद्धर्मे वैश्यवृत्तिः, विक्रय-निषेधाः, तथा ब्रह्म-क्षत्र-सम्बन्धः
Emergency Livelihood, Prohibited Trade, and Brahman–Kshatra Regulation
ब्राह्मणस्त्रिषु कालेषु शस्त्र गृह्नन्न दुष्पति । आत्मत्राणे वर्णदोषे दुर्दम्यनियमेषु च
brāhmaṇas triṣu kāleṣu śastraṃ gṛhṇan na duṣpati | ātmatrāṇe varṇadoṣe durdamyaniyameṣu ca ||
Bhīṣma sprach: Ein Brahmane zieht keinen Tadel auf sich, wenn er in drei Fällen zu Waffen greift: zum Selbstschutz; um Verderbnis oder Unordnung der sozialen Ordnung (Varna) zu verhindern, wenn sie vom rechten Weg abirrt; und um die zügellosen, schwer zu bändigenden Bösen zu zügeln und zu unterwerfen. In solchen Ausnahmefällen gilt Gewalt als Schutzpflicht, nicht als Bruch brahmanischer Zurückhaltung.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Non-violence and restraint are normative for a Brahmin, but dharma allows exceptional recourse to weapons when the aim is protection: safeguarding oneself, preventing breakdown of the social-moral order, and restraining dangerous wrongdoers. The intent (protection and restoration of order) is central to whether the act is blameworthy.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and governance, Bhishma advises Yudhishthira about when force is justified. Here he clarifies that even a Brahmin may take up arms in three specific emergencies tied to protection and the maintenance of order.