Shloka 24
कपिल–स्यूमरश्मि संवादः
Kapila and Syūmaraśmi on Renunciation, Householder Support, and Epistemic Authority
जैसे यहाँ नदीकी धारामें दैवेच्छासे बहता हुआ काठ अकस्मात् किसी दूसरे काठसे संयुक्त हो जाता है; फिर वहाँ दूसरे-दूसरे काष्ठ
yathā iha nadī-dhārāyāṃ daivecchayā bahatā kāṣṭham akasmāt kasyacid anyena kāṣṭhena saṃyujyate; punaḥ tatra nānā-vidhāni kāṣṭhāni tṛṇāni laghu-kāṣṭhāni śuṣka-gomayāni ca āgatya parasparaṃ saṃyujyante, kintu eṣāṃ sarveṣāṃ saṃyogaḥ akasmika eva, na tu saṃkalpataḥ (evam eva saṃsāre prāṇināṃ paraspara-saṃyoga-viyogau bhavataḥ) || yasmān nodvijate bhūtaṃ jātu kiṃcit kathaṃcana | abhayaṃ sarva-bhūtebhyaḥ sa prāpnoti sadā mune ||
Tulādhāra said: “Just as, in the current of a river, a piece of wood carried along by the will of fate suddenly comes into contact with another piece of wood, and then—at that same place—other logs, straws, small sticks, and even dried cow-dung drift in and cling together, so too their coming together is merely accidental, not the result of deliberate design. In the same way, in this world, living beings repeatedly meet and part. Therefore, O sage, the one by whom no creature is ever disturbed in any manner attains enduring fearlessness from all beings.”
तुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
Associations and separations among beings are largely accidental and governed by forces beyond personal control; therefore one should live so as not to disturb any creature. Such harmlessness (non-agitation of others) yields reciprocal safety—fearlessness from all beings.
Tulādhāra illustrates a moral point with a river-current image: floating debris (logs, straw, small sticks, dried cow-dung) meets and clumps together without intention, then disperses. He applies this to human and creaturely relationships in saṃsāra and concludes with an ethical injunction toward universal non-harming.