Shloka 20
Adhyāya 159 — Dāna–Dakṣiṇā, Āpaddharma Measures, and Prāyaścitta Classifications
धर्मस्य द्वियमाणस्य लोभग्रस्तैर्दुरात्मभि: । या या विक्रियते संस्था ततः सापि प्रपद्यते,लोभग्रस्त दुरात्मा पुरुषोंद्वारा अपहृत (विकृत) होनेवाले धर्मकी जो-जो स्थिति बिगड़ जाती या बदल जाती है, वह उसी रूपमें प्रचलित हो जाती है
dharmasya dvīyamāṇasya lobhagrastair durātmabhiḥ | yā yā vikriyate saṃsthā tataḥ sāpi prapadyate ||
ビーシュマは言った。「貪欲に取り憑かれた邪な者たちによってダルマが分断され、歪められるとき、ダルマのいかなる『定まった秩序』が改変されても、その改変された姿こそが通用する規範として受け入れられ、守られてしまう。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greed-driven, unscrupulous people can distort dharma so thoroughly that the distorted version becomes socially accepted as the new ‘normal’; therefore one must be vigilant about how moral norms are reshaped by selfish interests.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct and governance, Bhīṣma warns that when society is dominated by greed and bad character, established standards of dharma get modified, and those modifications quickly become the prevailing practice.