Shloka 6
चिरकारि-उपाख्यानम् / The Exemplum of Cirakārī: Deliberation Before Irreversible Action
न च पापकृतः पापान्मुच्यन्ते केचिदापदि । अपापवादी भवति यथा भवति धर्मकृत् । धर्मस्य निष्ठा त्वाचारस्तमेवाश्रित्य भोत्स्यसे
bhīṣma uvāca | na ca pāpakṛtaḥ pāpān mucyante kecid āpadi | apāpavādī bhavati yathā bhavati dharmakṛt | dharmasya niṣṭhā tv ācāras tam evāśritya bhotsyase |
作恶之人并不会在任何危难之际便自然脱离其罪。正如行法者不致成为护罪之人，法（dharma）之坚固根基亦在于正行（ācāra）。故唯有依止正行，方能把握并践行法之真实本性，即使身处逆境亦然。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral responsibility does not vanish in times of crisis: wrongdoing is not erased merely because one suffers during adversity. Dharma rests on ācāra—consistent right conduct—and a truly righteous person does not justify sin even under pressure.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he emphasizes that even in calamity one should not defend or normalize wrongdoing, and that the reliable guide to dharma is established good conduct (ācāra).