Shloka 61
Dasyu-maryādā and Buddhi-guided Rāja-nīti (दस्युमर्यादा तथा बुद्धिप्रधान-राजनीति)
वधबन्धभयादेते मोक्षतन्त्रमुपाश्रिता: । जनीमरण-जं दुःखं प्राहुरवेंदविदो जना:,इस वध और बन्धनके भयसे ही मुमुक्षुलोग मोक्ष-शास्त्रका आश्रय लेकर रहते हैं; क्योंकि वेदवेत्ता पुरुषोंका कहना है कि जन्म और मरणका दुःख असहा होता है
vadhabandhabhayād ete mokṣatantram upāśritāḥ | janī-maraṇa-jaṁ duḥkhaṁ prāhur avedavido janāḥ ||
Brahmadatta dijo: «Es por miedo a ser muertos y atados que estas gentes se acogen a la disciplina de la liberación. Pues quienes conocen de verdad el Veda declaran que el sufrimiento nacido de los repetidos nacimientos y muertes es insoportable.»
ब्रह्मदत्त उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse explains that the impulse toward mokṣa often begins with immediate fears—death and captivity—but is validated by a deeper insight: Veda-knowers affirm that saṁsāra itself, the cycle of birth and death, is intrinsically painful and ultimately intolerable, so liberation is a rational and ethical aim.
Brahmadatta is commenting on why people turn to liberation-teachings: not merely from abstract philosophy, but because worldly threats (being killed or bound) awaken dispassion; he then grounds this turn toward mokṣa in the testimony of authoritative Vedic sages.