Shloka 14
Daṇḍa, Ahiṃsā, and Proportional Kingship: The Dyumatsena–Satyavān Dialogue (दण्ड-अहिंसा-विवेकः)
निपानानीव गोभ्योऊपि क्षेत्रे कुल्ये च भारत । स्मृतिर्हिं शाश्वतो धर्मो विप्रहीणो न दृश्यते
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | nipānānīva gobhyo 'pi kṣetre kulyāṃ ca bhārata | smṛtir hi śāśvato dharmo viprahīṇo na dṛśyate ||
玉提湿陀罗说道：“噢，婆罗多啊，正如小小饮水池因群牛饮尽而枯竭，正如灌溉沟渠之水因浇灌众田而耗尽；同样，保存在《忆传》（Smṛti）中的永恒之法——亦即被记忆并奉行的古老吠陀秩序——也会渐渐衰微；一旦缺少博学的婆罗门，它便不复可见。”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma, even when described as perennial, depends on living transmission and competent custodians of sacred learning; when the learned community that preserves, teaches, and applies it declines, dharma becomes practically invisible—like water sources depleted by overuse.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on governance and righteousness, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on how dharma and Smṛti-based norms fade over time. He uses everyday agrarian images—cattle ponds drying up and canals running out—to illustrate the gradual exhaustion of religious-ethical practice when its sustaining social supports weaken.