Shloka 23
आपद्धर्मे वैश्यवृत्तिः, विक्रय-निषेधाः, तथा ब्रह्म-क्षत्र-सम्बन्धः
Emergency Livelihood, Prohibited Trade, and Brahman–Kshatra Regulation
यदा छिनत्त्ययो5श्मानमनग्निश्चापो5भिगच्छति । क्षत्रं च ब्राह्माणं द्वेष्टि तदा नश्यन्ति ते त्रयः
yadā chinatty ayo'śmānam anagniś cāpo'bhigacchati | kṣatraṃ ca brāhmaṇaṃ dveṣṭi tadā naśyanti te trayaḥ ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Kapag ang bakal ay nagsimulang pumutol ng bato, kapag ang apoy ay lumalapit sa tubig, at kapag ang uring mandirigma (kṣatriya) ay napopoot sa Brahmin (brāhmaṇa), kung gayon ang tatlong iyon ay napapahamak.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that dharma depends on right relations and natural propriety: when roles invert and the kṣatriya turns hostile to the brāhmaṇa (royal power against spiritual-ethical authority), the foundations of order fail, leading to ruin.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on governance and dharma. Here he uses striking impossibilities/contrary pairings (iron cutting stone, fire going to water) as a proverbial warning that certain reversals—especially hatred between kṣatriya and brāhmaṇa—signal destruction.