Shloka 2
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 27 — Saṃjaya’s Counsel on Dharma, Desire, and the Non-Perishing of Karma
यत्राधर्मो धर्मरूपाणि धत्ते धर्म: कृत्स्नो दृश्यतेडधर्मरूप: । बिश्रद् धर्मो धर्मरूपं तथा च विद्वांसस्तं सम्प्रपश्यन्ति बुद्धया,कहीं तो अधर्म ही धर्मका रूप धारण कर लेता है, कहीं पूर्णतया धर्म ही अधर्म दिखायी देता है तथा कहीं धर्म अपने वास्तविक स्वरूपको ही धारण किये रहता है। विद्वान् पुरुष अपनी बुद्धिसे विचार करके उसके असली रूपको देख और समझ लेते हैं
yatrādharmo dharmarūpāṇi dhatte dharmaḥ kṛtsno dṛśyate ’dharmarūpaḥ | viśraddharmaḥ dharmarūpaṃ tathā ca vidvāṃsas taṃ samprapaśyanti buddhyā ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „In manchen Lagen nimmt Adharma die Gestalt von Dharma an; in anderen erscheint Dharma in seiner Ganzheit, als wäre er Adharma; und in wieder anderen bleibt Dharma in seiner wahren Form. Die Weisen erkennen durch sorgfältige Unterscheidung mit ihrem Verstand sein eigentliches Wesen.“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is not always recognizable by outward labels: wrongdoing can masquerade as righteousness, and true righteousness can be misjudged as wrongdoing. Therefore, one must use buddhi (discriminative intelligence) to discern the real ethical nature of an act, not merely its appearance.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on the difficulty of judging right action amid political conflict. He notes that in complex situations surrounding the coming war, dharma and adharma can appear reversed, and only the wise can correctly perceive what is truly right.