Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 19
भीष्म उवाच धर्मस्य द्वियमाणस्य बलवद्/िद्दुरात्मभि: । यद्येवं मन्यसे राजंस्त्रिधा धर्मविचारणा
bhīṣma uvāca | dharmasya dvyamāṇasya balavad durātmabhiḥ | yady evaṃ manyase rājan tridhā dharmavicāraṇā ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “O Hari, kung iniisip mong ang dharma—na sinasalakay at pinahihina ng makapangyarihang masasamang tao—ay nahahati, at kaya ang pagsisiyasat sa dharma ay nagiging tatlo, hindi tama ang gayong pagtingin. Sa katotohanan, iisa ang dharma; sinusuri lamang ito sa tatlong paraan—tinitimbang sa pamamagitan ng tatlong pamantayan.”
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.