Shloka 6
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
भीष्मजीने कहा--धर्मनन्दन! भरतश्रेष्ठ युधिष्ठिर! यह तो तुमने मुझसे बड़ा गोपनीय विषय पूछा है। यदि तुम्हारे द्वारा प्रश्न न किया गया होता तो मैं इस समय इस संकटकालिक धर्मके विषयमें कुछ भी नहीं कह सकता था ।। धर्मो हणीयान् वचनाद् बुद्धिश्व भरतर्षभ | श्रुत्वोपास्यथ सदाचारै: साधुर्भवति स क्वचित्,भरतभूषण! धर्मका विषय बड़ा सूक्ष्म है, शास्त्र-वचनोंके अनुशीलनसे उसका बोध होता है। शास्त्रश्रवण करनेके पश्चात् अपने सदाचरणोंद्वारा उसका सेवन करके साधुजीवन व्यतीत करनेवाला पुरुष कहीं कोई बिरला ही होता है
bhīṣma uvāca—dharmo hīyān vacanād buddhiś ca bharatarṣabha | śrutvopāsyatha sadācāraiḥ sādhur bhavati sa kvacit, bharatabhūṣaṇa ||
Bhishma said: “O bull among the Bharatas, O Yudhishthira, ornament of the Bharata line—Dharma is subtle and can even be diminished when reduced to mere words; and understanding, too, may fail. Only rarely does a person, after hearing the teachings of the scriptures, truly practice them through disciplined good conduct and thereby become genuinely virtuous. You have asked me a deeply confidential matter; had you not questioned me, I could not have spoken of this dharma meant for times of crisis.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is extremely subtle and cannot be secured by eloquent speech alone; true virtue is rare because it requires not only hearing scriptural instruction but also embodying it through sustained good conduct, especially when facing crisis situations.
In the Shanti Parva dialogue, Yudhishthira questions Bhishma about a confidential and difficult topic—dharma in times of distress. Bhishma responds by stressing the subtlety of dharma and the rarity of people who genuinely live according to what they have learned.