Shloka 12
Satya–Anṛta Viveka (Discrimination between Truth and Falsehood) | सत्य–अनृत विवेकः
अहिंसार्थाय भूतानां धर्मप्रवचनं कृतम् । यः स्यादहिंसासम्पृक्त: स धर्म इति निश्चय:
ahiṁsārthāya bhūtānāṁ dharma-pravacanaṁ kṛtam | yaḥ syād ahiṁsā-sampṛktaḥ sa dharma iti niścayaḥ ||
Bhīṣma disse: “O ensinamento do dharma foi estabelecido para que os seres vivos não sejam feridos. Portanto, aquilo que está unido à não violência (ahiṃsā)—só isso é dharma; tal é a convicção assentada dos justos.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is fundamentally oriented toward preventing harm to living beings; whatever is inseparably connected with ahiṁsā (non-injury) is to be recognized as true dharma.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma is teaching Yudhiṣṭhira about the nature of dharma after the war, emphasizing ahiṁsā as the guiding criterion for righteous conduct.