Shloka 19
भीष्म उवाच धर्मस्य द्वियमाणस्य बलवद्/िद्दुरात्मभि: । यद्येवं मन्यसे राजंस्त्रिधा धर्मविचारणा
bhīṣma uvāca | dharmasya dvyamāṇasya balavad durātmabhiḥ | yady evaṃ manyase rājan tridhā dharmavicāraṇā ||
भीष्म उवाच—धर्मस्य द्विध्यमानस्य बलवद्दुरात्मभिः । यद्येवं मन्यसे राजंस्त्रिधा धर्मविचारणा ॥ नैतद् युक्तं महाबाहो; धर्म एक एव न संशयः। स तु वेदेन प्रत्यक्षेण शिष्टाचारैश्च त्रिधा परीक्ष्यते—एतैस्त्रिभिः प्रमाणैः सम्यग्विमृश्यते ॥
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.