Shloka 24
Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)
स्वधर्मानन्तरा वृत्तिर्जात्याननुपजीवत: । जहत: प्रथमं कल्पमनुकल्पेन जीवनम्
svadharmānantara vṛttir jātyān anupajīvataḥ | jahataḥ prathamaṃ kalpam anukalpena jīvanam ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Lorsqu’un homme ne peut subsister en s’appuyant sur les devoirs prescrits à sa naissance et à son rang, on enseigne aussi un moyen de subsistance de remplacement. Car en temps de détresse, celui qui doit abandonner la première voie—vivre selon son propre dharma—est autorisé à vivre selon une voie seconde, fût-ce en adoptant l’occupation d’un ordre inférieur, afin de préserver la vie sans sombrer dans l’absence de loi».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
In hardship, preserving life may require setting aside the primary rule of living strictly by one’s own svadharma; the tradition allows a secondary, emergency livelihood (anukalpa), even adopting work associated with a lower varna, to avoid greater moral collapse.
Bhishma is instructing Yudhishthira in the Shanti Parva on dharma, specifically explaining the graded rules of conduct: the normal rule (svadharma-based livelihood) and the emergency exception (alternative livelihood) when normal duty cannot sustain life.