Shloka 20
Adhyāya 159 — Dāna–Dakṣiṇā, Āpaddharma Measures, and Prāyaścitta Classifications
धर्मस्य द्वियमाणस्य लोभग्रस्तैर्दुरात्मभि: । या या विक्रियते संस्था ततः सापि प्रपद्यते
dharmasya dvīyamāṇasya lobhagrastair durātmabhiḥ | yā yā vikriyate saṃsthā tataḥ sāpi prapadyate ||
毗湿摩说：当达摩被贪欲所攫的恶人分裂并扭曲之时，达摩中凡被更改的任何“既定秩序”，那被更改后的形态反而会被人们接受并奉行，成为通行的规范。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greed-driven, unscrupulous people can distort dharma so thoroughly that the distorted version becomes socially accepted as the new ‘normal’; therefore one must be vigilant about how moral norms are reshaped by selfish interests.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct and governance, Bhīṣma warns that when society is dominated by greed and bad character, established standards of dharma get modified, and those modifications quickly become the prevailing practice.