Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 16
न तेषां भिद्यते वृत्तं यज्ञा: स्वाध्यायकर्म च । आचार: कारणं चैव धर्मश्वैकस्त्रयं पुन:
na teṣāṁ bhidyate vṛttaṁ yajñāḥ svādhyāya-karma ca | ācāraḥ kāraṇaṁ caiva dharmaś caikaḥ trayaṁ punaḥ ||
Bhishma said: In such saintly people, their established way of life is never disrupted—nor are their sacrifices, their study and recitation of the Veda, and their other sacred duties. In them, conduct, the authoritative sources that explain it (the Vedas and śāstras), and dharma are not at odds; these three stand in a single harmony.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True saints maintain an unbroken moral discipline: their conduct, their Vedic study, and their sacrificial duties remain steady, and their lived practice (ācāra), scriptural authority (Veda-śāstra), and dharma mutually confirm one another as a single coherent whole.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he describes the hallmark of the righteous: their daily life and religious observances do not falter, and their behavior aligns naturally with scriptural teaching and the principles of dharma.