Shloka 21
Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma
यथा मृगस्य विद्धस्य पदमेकं पद नयेत् । लक्षेद् रुधिरलेपेन तथा धर्मपदं नयेत्
yathā mṛgasya viddhasya padam ekaṃ pada nayet | lakṣed rudhiralepena tathā dharmapadaṃ nayet ||
毗湿摩说道：正如被箭射中的鹿，其足迹可以一步一步追寻——因为血迹涂染在蹄印上，标示其行踪，引猎人抵达它所去之处——同样，人也可以由此被引向达摩真正的“足迹”。达摩的真实本性极难辨识，如同蛇行无迹；然而那种达摩，若（1）为《吠陀》所规定，（2）为诸《斯摩利提》（Smṛti）所印证，（3）为贤善之人所奉行，并且（4）在内心被认可为善美而可亲，便成为具足四分的指引，助人抵达达摩的真实形相。能宣说此等达摩者，方是真正的达摩知者。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is subtle and difficult to identify, but it can be reliably approached through a fourfold guide: what the Veda enjoins, what the Smṛtis endorse, what good people practice, and what a purified conscience finds wholesome and dear. Teaching and following such dharma is the mark of a true dharma-knower.
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Śānti Parva, he uses a vivid hunting simile: a wounded deer leaves a blood-marked trail that guides the hunter to its location. Likewise, the fourfold criteria function as a ‘trail’ that leads a seeker toward the authentic understanding of dharma, which is otherwise as hard to trace as a serpent’s track.