Shloka 12
Aṣṭāvakra–Kahoda Upākhyāna: Śvetaketu’s Āśrama, Sarasvatī, and the Origin of Aṣṭāvakra
सत्यपराक्रमी नरेश! जो धर्म दूसरे धर्मका बाधक हो वह धर्म नहीं, कुधर्म है। जो दूसरे किसी धर्मका विरोध न करके प्रतिष्ठित होता है वही वास्तविक धर्म है ।।
satyaparākrami nareśa! yo dharmo 'nyadharmabādhakaḥ sa dharmo na, kudharmaḥ. yo 'nyasya kasyacid dharmasya virodhaṃ na kṛtvā pratiṣṭhito bhavati sa eva vāstava-dharmaḥ. virodhiṣu mahīpāla niścitya gurulāghavam | na bādhā vidyate yatra taṃ dharmaṃ samupācaret ||
Ô roi de vaillance véritable, une règle de conduite qui entrave un autre devoir légitime n’est pas dharma ; c’est kudharma. Seul est dharma authentique celui qui s’établit sans s’opposer aux autres devoirs justes. Ainsi, lorsque les devoirs semblent se contredire, ô maître de la terre, pèse ce qui est plus lourd et ce qui est plus léger, et suis la voie où nul tort ni obstacle n’est causé à autrui.
श्येन उवाच
Educational Q&A
When duties seem to clash, true dharma is the course that does not obstruct other rightful duties; one must judge the relative weight (guru–lāghava) of competing obligations and choose the action that avoids causing harm or hindrance.
The hawk (śyena), addressing a king, offers a principle for resolving apparent contradictions in dharma: not every claimed duty is valid—if it blocks another legitimate duty it becomes kudharma—so the king should deliberate and adopt the least obstructive, most weighty course.