Shloka 50
Dambhodbhava, Nara-Nārāyaṇa, and the Counsel to Abandon Hubris
Udyoga-parva 94
न चास्य शल्यं कृन्तन्ति विद्धास्तत्र सभासद: । धर्म एतानारुजति यथा नद्यनुकूलजान्
na cāsya śalyaṃ kṛntanti viddhās tatra sabhāsadaḥ | dharma etān ārujati yathā nady-anukūlajān ||
毗湿摩波衍那说道：在那会堂中，众人不肯割除刺入其中的“荆棘”（致伤之过）。于是正法反而刺穿那些会众——如同河流以其水势连根拔起并毁灭岸边之树。亦复如是：当非法不被除去，正法进入一座已为非法所伤的殿堂，其存在本身便成为纵容者覆亡之因。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
If an assembly tolerates wrongdoing and fails to remove it, the guilt and consequences fall upon the very members who remain silent. Dharma does not merely ‘exist’ as an ideal; when ignored amid adharma, it becomes a force that exposes and destroys the complicit.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes a court/assembly where adharma has ‘pierced’ the institution like a thorn. Because the courtiers do not cut out that thorn, Dharma itself turns against them—illustrated by the simile of a river that uproots trees along its banks.