Shloka 16
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
तस्मादापत्स्वधर्मोडपि श्रूयते धर्मलक्षण: । अधर्मो जायते तस्मिन्निति वै कवयो विदु:
tasmād āpatsu dharmo 'pi śrūyate dharmalakṣaṇaḥ | adharmo jāyate tasminn iti vai kavayo viduḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Ainsi, en temps de calamité, même l’adharma peut être dit porter les marques du dharma. Mais les sages le savent avec certitude : lorsqu’on agit à l’encontre du dharma — fût-ce sous la contrainte de la détresse — c’est bien l’adharma qui se produit. La nécessité peut brouiller les mots, mais la conséquence morale demeure ; l’épreuve ne sanctifie pas d’elle-même la faute.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even if emergency conduct is sometimes described as ‘dharma-like,’ the wise maintain that acting against dharma still generates adharma; distress may explain actions but does not erase their ethical nature or consequences.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on conduct, Bhishma advises Yudhishthira about moral decision-making under crisis (āpaddharma), warning that necessity can lead people to justify questionable acts, yet wrongdoing remains wrongdoing.