Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 20
एक एवेति जानीहि त्रिधा धर्मस्य दर्शनम् | पृथक्त्वे च न मे बुद्धिस्त्रयाणामपि वै तथा
eka eveti jānīhi tridhā dharmasya darśanam | pṛthaktve ca na me buddhis trayāṇām api vai tathā ||
Know this for certain: Dharma is one alone. It is beheld in a threefold way through three means of apprehension, yet I do not accept that these three establish separate and mutually different dharmas. They are distinct approaches that converge upon the same ethical truth.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that dharma is fundamentally one, even if it is approached or recognized through three different modes of understanding; the plurality lies in methods, not in the essence of dharma.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, clarifying that apparently different authorities or approaches should be reconciled as pointing to a single dharmic truth rather than competing dharmas.