Shloka 41
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
अथवा मततमेतत्ते ते5प्यन्योन्यप्रयोजका: । कार्यकारणसंदेहो भवत्यन्योन्यचोदनात्,अथवा यदि तुम्हारा यह मत हो कि ये दण्ड-चक्र आदि भी एक-दूसरेके प्रयोजक होते हैं; इसलिये कारण हैं ही। किंतु ऐसा माननेसे एक-दूसरेको प्रेरणा देनेवाला होनेके कारण कार्य-कारणभावके निर्णयमें संदेह हो जाता है
athavā matam etat te te 'py anyonya-prayojakāḥ | kārya-kāraṇa-sandeho bhavaty anyonya-codanāt ||
Or if this is your view—that even these (such as the wheel and the like) mutually impel one another and therefore do count as causes—then, by accepting such mutual instigation, uncertainty arises in determining what is cause and what is effect. When each is said to prompt the other, the very decision about causal priority becomes doubtful.
सर्प उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse critiques a theory of mutual causation: if two factors are said to cause each other, then the distinction between cause and effect becomes indeterminate, producing epistemic doubt about causal priority and responsibility.
The serpent-speaker challenges an opponent’s explanation of how instruments like punishment and related mechanisms function as causes, arguing that claiming they mutually impel one another undermines any clear decision about what truly causes what.