Shloka 44
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
सर्वोपायैराददीत धन यज्ञप्रयोजनम् । न तुल्यदोष: स्यादेवं कार्याकार्येषु भारत
sarvopāyair ādadīta dhanaṁ yajñaprayojanam | na tulyadoṣaḥ syād evaṁ kāryākāryeṣu bhārata bharatanandana ||
Bhishma dijo: «Por el propósito de un sacrificio (yajña), debe reunirse riqueza por todos los medios disponibles. Oh Bharata, deleite de los Bharatas, cuando la acción y la inacción se enredan de este modo, el agente no incurre en la misma clase de reproche que en otras ocasiones».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights a dharma-ambiguity: when a sacred end like sustaining a yajña is at stake, one may resort to many practical means to obtain resources, and the moral blame is not judged as strictly as in ordinary situations—because the context (kārya vs. akārya) becomes complex and intention/purpose (prayojana) matters.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and governance, Bhishma advises Yudhiṣṭhira on difficult ethical choices. Here he addresses how a ruler/householder might procure wealth for ritual obligations, noting that in such constrained circumstances the agent’s fault is not equivalent to that incurred in normal cases.