प्रतिषेद्धा हि पापस्य यदा लोकेषु विद्यते ॥
तदा सर्वेषु लोकेषु पापकृन् नोपपद्यते ॥
यदा तु प्रतिषेद्धारं पापो न लभते क्व चित् ॥
तिष्ठन्ति बहवो लोके तदा पापेषु कर्मसु ॥
जानन्न् अपि च यः पापं शक्तिमान् न नियच्छति ॥
ईशः सन् सो ऽपि तेनैव कर्मणा संप्रयुज्यते ॥
pratiṣeddhā hi pāpasya yadā lokeṣu vidyate ||
tadā sarveṣu lokeṣu pāpakṛn nopapadyate ||
yadā tu pratiṣeddhāraṃ pāpo na labhate kva cit ||
tiṣṭhanti bahavo loke tadā pāpeṣu karmasu ||
jānann api ca yaḥ pāpaṃ śaktimān na niyacchati ||
īśaḥ san so 'pi tenaiva karmaṇā saṃprayujyate ||
"For when in the worlds there exists one who restrains evil, then in all the worlds the evildoer does not appear; but when the evildoer finds no restrainer anywhere, then many in the world remain in evil deeds. And whoever, knowing evil and being capable, being powerful, does not restrain it -- that one himself becomes party to that deed."
310436f82b34 · published Jul 12, 2026, 5:37:22 PM UTC
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Here the duty to restrain evil is proclaimed. The teaching is telling: where there is someone to curb the evildoer, evil does not multiply; and whoever, powerful and knowing, permits evil, becomes its accomplice. Here it is also said that the inaction of the strong before evil is not innocence but guilt: responsibility lies not only in doing evil but in permitting it. Telling too is the balance with what the ancestors said before (ch. 170) about the futility of vengeance: here -- the duty to restrain evil; there -- the prohibition against destroying the innocent; the truth lies in their union. Thus the scripture shows that the righteous one must resist evil -- but with measure, without destroying the whole world.