Shloka 11
Daṇḍa, Ahiṃsā, and Proportional Kingship: The Dyumatsena–Satyavān Dialogue (दण्ड-अहिंसा-विवेकः)
धर्मस्य क्रियमाणस्य बलवद्धिद्दुरात्मभि: । या या विक्रियते संस्था तत: सापि प्रणश्यति,जब धर्मका अनुष्ठान हो रहा हो, उस समय बलवान दुरात्माओंद्वारा उसमें जो-जो विकृति उत्पन्न की जाती है, उसके कारण उस धर्ममर्यादाका ही लोप हो जाता है
dharmasya kriyamāṇasya balavaddhir durātmabhiḥ | yā yā vikriyate saṃsthā tataḥ sāpi praṇaśyati ||
یُدھِشٹھِر نے کہا—جب دھرم پر عمل ہو رہا ہوتا ہے، تب طاقتور بدباطن لوگ اس کی قائم شدہ ترتیب میں جو جو بگاڑ داخل کرتے ہیں، انہی بگاڑوں کے سبب وہ دھرم کی حدبندی خود ٹوٹ کر مٹ جاتی ہے۔
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma does not collapse only through open rejection; it is often destroyed when powerful, unethical actors introduce small distortions into its established norms and procedures. Corrupted practice undermines the very institution meant to uphold righteousness.
In the Śānti Parva’s reflective discourse on dharma and governance after the war, Yudhiṣṭhira voices a concern: even when people attempt to follow dharma, the interference of powerful wrongdoers can deform its institutions, causing the intended moral order to fail.