ईदृशानशिवान्घोरानाचारानिह जाजले ।
केवलाचरितत्वात्तु निपुणो नावबुध्यसे ॥
कारणाद्धर्ममन्विच्छेन्न लोकचरितं चरेत् ।
īdṛśān aśivān ghorān ācārān iha jājale |
kevalācaritatvāt tu nipuṇo nāvabudhyase ||
kāraṇād dharmam anvicchen na loka-caritaṁ caret |
(Mahābhārata: 12.262.51–2)
[Tulādhāra:] “O Jājali, such inauspicious and dreadful activities exist here [i.e., in this world] only because of their being customary, and not because you consider them proper. One should follow dharma because of reason. One should not [simply] do what is done by people in general.”
Commentary
kāraṇād hetutaḥ yena bhūtānam abhayaṁ sa dharma iti jānīyān na gatānugatikaḥ syād ity arthaḥ |
(Excerpt from the Bhārata-bhāva-dīpa-ṭīkā by Nīlakaṇṭha Caturdhara)
“‘Because of reason’ (kāraṇād), that is, because of a logical reason, one should known dharma to be that by which there is no danger to living beings, and one should not be a [mere] follower of a precedent [i.e., one should not blindly follow whatever customs or conduct are prevalent in society, that is, one should not seek to follow dharma without reasonably deliberating on what dharma actually is].”