Shloka 6
कपिल–स्यूमरश्मि संवादः
Kapila and Syūmaraśmi on Renunciation, Householder Support, and Epistemic Authority
अद्रोहेणैव भूतानामल्पद्रोहेण वा पुनः । या वृत्ति: स परो धर्मस्तेन जीवामि जाजले,जिसमें किसी भी प्राणीके साथ द्रोह न करना पड़े अथवा कम-से-कम द्रोह करनेसे काम चल जाय, ऐसी जो जीवन-वृत्ति है, वही उत्तम धर्म है। जाजले! मैं उसीसे जीवन निर्वाह करता हूँ
adroheṇaiva bhūtānām alpadroheṇa vā punaḥ | yā vṛttiḥ sa paro dharmas tena jīvāmi jājale ||
ఏ జీవనవృత్తితో ఏ ప్రాణికీ హాని కలగదు—లేదా కనీస హానితోనే గడచిపోతుందో—అదే పరమ ధర్మం. ఓ జాజలి, నేను అటువంటి జీవికతోనే జీవిస్తున్నాను.
तुलाधार उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the highest dharma as choosing a livelihood that avoids harming living beings; if complete non-harm is impossible, one should reduce harm to the minimum. Ethical living is measured not only by intention but by the concrete impact of one’s means of subsistence.
In the Tulādhāra–Jājali discourse of the Śānti Parva, the householder Tulādhāra instructs the ascetic Jājali. Here he states his guiding principle: he sustains himself through a way of life grounded in non-injury (or the least injury possible), presenting practical ethics as superior dharma.