Shloka 41
Dasyu-maryādā and Buddhi-guided Rāja-nīti (दस्युमर्यादा तथा बुद्धिप्रधान-राजनीति)
ब्रह्मदत्तने कहा--पूजनी! प्राणोंका नाश करनेवाले भी यदि एक साथ रहने लगें तो उनमें परस्पर स्नेह उत्पन्न हो जाता है और वे एक-दूसरेका विश्वास भी करने लगते हैं; जैसे श्वपच (चाण्डाल) के साथ रहनेसे कुत्तेका उसके प्रति स्नेह और विश्वास हो जाता है ।। अन्योन्यकृतवैराणां संवासान्मृदुतां गतम् । नैव तिष्ठति तद् वैरं पुष्करस्थमिवोदकम्,आपसमें जिनका वैर हो गया है, उनका वह वैर भी एक साथ रहनेसे मृदु हो जाता है, अत: कमल के पत्तेपर जैसे जल नहीं ठहरता है, उसी प्रकार वह वैर भी टिक नहीं पाता है
brahmadatta uvāca—pūjanī! prāṇānāśakārakā api yadi ekatra saṁvasanti, teṣāṁ parasparaṁ snehaḥ prādurbhavati, anyonyaviśvāsaś ca jāyate; yathā śvapacena (cāṇḍālena) saha saṁvāsāt śunas tasmin snehaṁ viśvāsaṁ ca gacchati. anyonyakṛtavairāṇāṁ saṁvāsān mṛdutāṁ gatam; naiva tiṣṭhati tad vairaṁ puṣkarastham ivodakam.
Brahmadatta said: “Venerable lady, even those who are capable of destroying one another’s lives—if they live together—come to feel mutual affection and begin to trust each other; just as a dog, by dwelling with a śvapaca (a Caṇḍāla), develops affection and confidence toward him. Likewise, the enmity of those who have made each other enemies becomes softened through living together; that hostility does not remain—just as water does not stay upon a lotus leaf.”
ब्रह्मदत्त उवाच
Educational Q&A
Proximity and shared living can transform even deadly hostility into affection and trust; sustained association softens enmity until it cannot endure—like water that cannot cling to a lotus leaf.
Brahmadatta addresses a respected woman and argues for the pacifying power of companionship, illustrating it with everyday analogies (dog and śvapaca; water on lotus) to show that even entrenched enemies can reconcile through continued association.