12.252
Yudhiṣṭhira said.
You have properly explained the subtle characteristics of dharma. I do have a certain intuition, and I could express it by inference.
The greater questions that were in my heart have been answered by you. Now, O king, I will state another question, not as a challenge or dispute.
These indeed lead to attainment, creation, and deliverance; but, O Bhārata, dharma cannot be known by mere recitation.
The duty of a person in normal circumstances is different from that of one in adversity; but how can calamities be known in advance by any set procedure?
Good conduct is regarded as dharma; the virtuous are defined by their conduct. How can one distinguish between what should or should not be accomplished, since good conduct itself is without a fixed characteristic?
Ordinary people perceive unrighteousness disguised as righteousness, while someone extraordinary perceives righteousness even when it appears as unrighteousness.
Again, the authority of this has indeed been specified by those skilled in the śāstra. It has also been heard by us that the Vedic doctrines diminish in every age.
Some performed righteous acts in the Kṛta Yuga, others in the Tretā, others in the Dvāpara, and others in the Kali Yuga, performing righteousness as per their ability.
The declaration of sacred tradition is considered truth, and this is what upholds the world. From these traditions, the supreme Vedas have emanated, extending in all directions.
If all of them are means of knowledge, then that means of knowledge does not exist. When both means of knowledge and non-means of knowledge are in contradiction, from where does scriptural authority arise?
When dharma is taken away by the strong and wicked, any institution that is thus altered will also perish.
We may or may not know this; it may or may not be possible to know. It is subtler than the edge of a razor and greater than a mountain.
At first, it appears like the form of a Gandharva-city; but when examined by poets, it again disappears from sight.
O Bhārata, just as watering places are useless for cows when they are absent, and an irrigation channel is useless in a field, so too, even if remembered, the eternal dharma is not seen when it is devoid of brāhmaṇas.
Some act out of desire, others out of loss, and others for various reasons; indeed, many unvirtuous people engage in futile conduct.
Righteousness quickly becomes absorbed only among the virtuous; others call them mad and even mock them.
Great people have indeed turned away, having taken refuge in royal duty. Truly, no conduct that benefits everyone is ever seen.
By that very cause, another arises; he overcomes another again; and again, he is seen in a similar form by chance.
One should recognize that the lack of single-mindedness in practices is common to all, for by that very cause, one arises and also overcomes others.
Dharma, which was long ago accepted and declared by the sages, becomes an eternal institution through the conduct of those who came before.
