Shloka 54
Dasyu-maryādā and Buddhi-guided Rāja-nīti (दस्युमर्यादा तथा बुद्धिप्रधान-राजनीति)
पूजन्युवाच यदि काल: प्रमाणं ते न वैरं कस्यचिद् भवेत् । कस्मात् त्वपचितिं यान्ति बान्धवा बान्धवै्हतै:
Brahmadatta uvāca: yadi kālaḥ pramāṇaṃ te na vairaṃ kasyacid bhavet | kasmāt tv apacitiṃ yānti bāndhavā bāndhavair hataiḥ ||
Pūjanī thưa: “Tâu Đại vương! Nếu theo ý ngài, Thời gian (Kāla) mới là quyền lực quyết định mọi hành vi, thì hẳn chẳng ai nên ôm thù ai. Vậy cớ sao khi bà con ruột thịt bị chính bà con khác sát hại, những người thân lại đi tìm báo phục?”
ब्रह्मदत्त उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse challenges a fatalistic view that makes Time the sole cause of actions. If everything is only ‘Time’s doing,’ moral agency collapses and enmity or retaliation becomes irrational. The question presses the listener to account for human responsibility and ethical judgment even amid claims of destiny.
Brahmadatta interrogates an argument that attributes all deeds to Time. He points to a lived social reality—kinsmen retaliate when relatives are killed—and asks why such retribution persists if no individual can be held responsible beyond the workings of Time.