Shloka 2536
कपिल–स्यूमरश्मि संवादः
Kapila and Syūmaraśmi on Renunciation, Householder Support, and Epistemic Authority
स भयं सर्वभूतेभ्य: सम्प्राप्नोति महामते । महामते! विद्वन! जैसे नदीके तीरपर आकर कोलाहल करनेवाले मनुष्यके डरसे सभी जलचर जन््तु भयके मारे छिप जाते हैं तथा जिस प्रकार भेड़ियेको देखकर सभी थर्रा उठते हैं
sa bhayaṁ sarvabhūtebhyaḥ samprāpnoti mahāmate |
Tulādhāra said: “The very person who becomes a source of fear to everyone ends up meeting fear from all beings in return. Just as creatures of the water hide in terror when noisy men gather on a riverbank, and just as all tremble at the sight of a wolf, so too does the one whom people dread come to be feared and threatened by the whole world—showing that intimidation breeds universal insecurity rather than true strength.”
तुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
Creating fear in others rebounds upon oneself: the intimidator becomes surrounded by fear from all sides. Ethical strength lies in harmlessness and restraint, not in terrorizing others.
In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Tulādhāra instructs his listener by stating a general moral law and reinforcing it with vivid similes (animals hiding at a riverbank; trembling at a wolf), illustrating how fear spreads and returns to its source.