Shloka 53
कपिल–स्यूमरश्मि संवादः
Kapila and Syūmaraśmi on Renunciation, Householder Support, and Epistemic Authority
कारणाद् धर्ममन्विच्छेन्न लोकचरितं चरेत् । यो हन्याद् यश्च मां स्तौति तत्रापि शूणु जाजले
kāraṇād dharmam anvicchen na lokacaritaṃ caret | yo hanyād yaś ca māṃ stauti tatrāpi śṛṇu jājale ||
One should seek dharma by examining cause and consequence, not by merely following the ways of the world. O Jājali, hear now my own position: the one who strikes me and the one who praises me are the same to me.
तुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma should be adopted after rational ethical scrutiny—considering causes and outcomes—rather than by blindly imitating social convention; the wise also praise equanimity toward both harm and praise.
In the Tulādhāra–Jājali discourse of Śānti Parva, Tulādhāra instructs Jājali on how to discern true dharma and illustrates his own practice of impartiality: he treats an aggressor and a flatterer alike.