Shloka 54
पूजन्युवाच यदि काल: प्रमाणं ते न वैरं कस्यचिद् भवेत् । कस्मात् त्वपचितिं यान्ति बान्धवा बान्धवै्हतै:,पूजनी बोली--राजन्! यदि आप कालको ही सब क्रियाओंका कारण मानते हैं, तब तो किसीका किसीके साथ वैर नहीं होना चाहिये; फिर अपने भाई-बन्धुओंके मारे जानेपर उनके सगे-सम्बन्धी बदला क्यों लेते हैं?
Brahmadatta uvāca: yadi kālaḥ pramāṇaṃ te na vairaṃ kasyacid bhavet | kasmāt tv apacitiṃ yānti bāndhavā bāndhavair hataiḥ ||
Pūjanī said: “O king! If, in your view, Time alone is the decisive authority behind actions, then no one should bear enmity toward anyone. Why, then, do kinsmen seek retribution when their own relatives have been slain by other relatives?”
ब्रह्मदत्त उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse challenges a fatalistic view that makes Time the sole cause of actions. If everything is only ‘Time’s doing,’ moral agency collapses and enmity or retaliation becomes irrational. The question presses the listener to account for human responsibility and ethical judgment even amid claims of destiny.
Brahmadatta interrogates an argument that attributes all deeds to Time. He points to a lived social reality—kinsmen retaliate when relatives are killed—and asks why such retribution persists if no individual can be held responsible beyond the workings of Time.