Shloka 19
भीष्म उवाच धर्मस्य द्वियमाणस्य बलवद्/िद्दुरात्मभि: । यद्येवं मन्यसे राजंस्त्रिधा धर्मविचारणा
bhīṣma uvāca | dharmasya dvyamāṇasya balavad durātmabhiḥ | yady evaṃ manyase rājan tridhā dharmavicāraṇā ||
Bhishma berkata: “Wahai Raja, jika engkau mengira bahwa dharma—ketika diserang dan dilemahkan oleh orang-orang jahat yang kuat—menjadi terbagi, dan karena itu penyelidikan tentang dharma menjadi tiga macam, maka pandangan itu tidak tepat. Sesungguhnya dharma itu satu; ia ditelaah dalam tiga cara—ditimbang melalui Veda, persepsi langsung, dan ācāra (laku para śiṣṭa).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma insists that dharma is fundamentally one, even when it appears harmed or confused by the actions of powerful wrongdoers; the ‘threefold’ aspect belongs to the methods of examining dharma, not to dharma itself being three different things.
In his instruction to the king (Yudhiṣṭhira), Bhishma corrects a misunderstanding: the king seems to treat dharma as split or multiple due to conflicting situations, and Bhishma clarifies that only the inquiry is threefold—dharma itself remains a single principle.