Shloka 5

Varṇāśrama-ācāra and Vikarma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Safe Dharmas (शिवधर्मप्रश्नः)

Devanagari script

तत्रारण्यकशास्त्राणि समधीत्य स धर्मवित्‌ । ऊर्ध्वरेता: प्रव्रजित्वा गच्छत्यक्षरसात्मताम्‌,वहाँ धर्मज्ञ पुरुष आरण्यकशास्त्रोंका अध्ययन करके वानप्रस्थ-धर्मका पालन करे। तत्पश्चात्‌ ब्रह्मचर्य पालनपूर्वक उस आश्रमसे निकल जाय और विधिपूर्वक संन्यास ग्रहण कर ले। इस प्रकार संन्यास लेनेवाला पुरुष अविनाशी ब्रह्मभावको प्राप्त हो जाता है

Transliteration

tatrāraṇyakśāstrāṇi samadhītya sa dharmavit | ūrdhvaretaḥ pravrajitvā gacchaty akṣarasātmatām ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: Dort soll der Kenner des Dharma die Āraṇyaka-Lehren gründlich studieren und nach der Zucht des Waldbewohners leben. Danach soll er, strenge Enthaltsamkeit wahrend, diese Stufe verlassen und nach rechter Vorschrift Sannyāsa, die Entsagung, annehmen. Wer so Sannyāsa ergreift, gelangt zum unvergänglichen Zustand—zur Identität mit dem Ewigen (Brahman).

Word by Word

तत्रthere

आरण्यकशास्त्राणिthe Aranyaka scriptures/treatises

समधीत्यhaving studied

सःhe

धर्मवित्knower of dharma

ऊर्ध्वरेताःone of restrained continence (lit. with upward semen)

प्रव्रजित्वाhaving gone forth (renounced)

गच्छतिgoes/attains

अक्षरसात्मताम्identity/oneness with the imperishable (Brahman)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse outlines a graded spiritual path within the āśrama framework: study of contemplative Vedic teachings (Āraṇyakas), disciplined forest-dweller life (vānaprastha), then celibate renunciation (pravrajyā/sannyāsa), culminating in realization of the Imperishable—Brahman.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he describes how a dharma-knower should progress from forest discipline and scriptural study to formal renunciation, presenting liberation as the ethical and spiritual end of this progression.