Shloka 11
Daṇḍa, Ahiṃsā, and Proportional Kingship: The Dyumatsena–Satyavān Dialogue (दण्ड-अहिंसा-विवेकः)
धर्मस्य क्रियमाणस्य बलवद्धिद्दुरात्मभि: । या या विक्रियते संस्था तत: सापि प्रणश्यति
dharmasya kriyamāṇasya balavaddhir durātmabhiḥ | yā yā vikriyate saṃsthā tataḥ sāpi praṇaśyati ||
Yudhiṣṭhira nói: “Khi dharma đang được đem ra thực hành, mọi sự bóp méo do những kẻ quyền thế mà tà ác gieo vào trật tự đã được thiết lập—chính vì những sự bại hoại ấy mà ranh giới dharma ấy sụp đổ và tiêu vong.”
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.