Shloka 11
साहं धर्म विजानन्ती धर्मनित्ये त्वयि स्थिते । सत्पथं कथमुत्सृज्य यास्यामि विपथं पथ:
sāhaṃ dharmaṃ vijānantī dharmanitye tvayi sthite | satpathaṃ katham utsṛjya yāsyāmi vipathaṃ pathaḥ ||
ਹੇ ਪਤਿਦੇਵ! ਜਦੋਂ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਸਦਾ ਧਰਮ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਡੋਲ ਹੋ, ਤਾਂ ਧਰਮ ਨੂੰ ਜਾਣਦੀ ਮੈਂ ਸਤਪਥ ਛੱਡ ਕੇ ਕੁਪਥ ਤੇ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਚੱਲ ਸਕਦੀ ਹਾਂ?
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When one clearly knows dharma and is supported by a person firmly established in righteousness, abandoning the virtuous course for an unrighteous one becomes morally incoherent; the verse affirms steadfast commitment to the ‘satpatha’ over the ‘vipatha’.
Within Bhishma’s discourse in the Shanti Parva, a woman’s voice is quoted to express ethical firmness: addressing someone who is ‘ever constant in dharma,’ she declares she cannot forsake the righteous path and turn to wrongdoing.