Shloka 206
Adhyāya 6: Śibira-dvāra-sthita Bhūta-varṇana and Aśvatthāmā’s Śaraṇāgati to Mahādeva
स पथ: प्रच्युतो धर्मात् कुपथे प्रतिहन्यते । 'जो मूर्ख शास्त्रदर्शी पुरुषोंकी आज्ञाका उल्लंघन करके दूसरोंकी हिंसा करना चाहता है, वह धर्ममार्गसे भ्रष्ट हो कुमार्गमें पड़कर स्वयं ही मारा जाता है
sa pathaḥ pracyuto dharmāt kupathe pratihanyate |
三阇耶说：凡背离达摩者，必离正道而入邪途；一旦踏上歧路，便在彼处遭击而覆——为自己所选择的暴行与无法所毁。那愚人违逆通晓圣典的智者之训，妄欲加害他人，便从达摩之路坠落，陷入非道，终将自取灭亡。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Deviation from dharma—especially choosing violence against others while disregarding the counsel of śāstra-guided wise persons—leads to one’s own downfall. The verse presents adharma not merely as a social wrong but as a path that rebounds upon the doer with ruin.
In the Sauptika Parva’s grim aftermath of war, Sañjaya articulates a moral judgment: those who abandon righteous conduct and pursue wrongful means (such as harmful aggression) end up being ‘struck down’ on that very path, underscoring the ethical reckoning that follows acts of adharma.