Shloka 16
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 53: Arjuna’s Jayadratha-vadha Pratijñā and Droṇa’s Protective Vyūha (शकटा-पद्म व्यूहः)
ततोअग्निमुपसंहत्य भगवॉललोकसत्कृत: । प्रवृत्त च निवृत्तं च कथयामास वै प्रभु:,तब विश्ववन्दित भगवान् ब्रह्माने उस अग्निका उपसंहार करके मनुष्योंके लिये प्रवृत्ति (कर्म) और निवृत्ति (ज्ञान) मार्गोंका उपदेश दिया
tato 'gnim upasaṁhatya bhagavān lokasatkṛtaḥ | pravṛttaṁ ca nivṛttaṁ ca kathayāmāsa vai prabhuḥ ||
Then the Blessed Lord, honored by the world, brought that sacrificial fire to its close. Thereafter, the sovereign Teacher expounded to humankind both the path of engagement in righteous action (pravṛtti) and the path of withdrawal leading to liberating knowledge (nivṛtti)—showing how duty and renunciation each have their proper place in the moral order.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a twofold ethical-spiritual framework: pravṛtti (right engagement in duties and action) and nivṛtti (withdrawal/renunciation culminating in liberating knowledge). It implies that both are legitimate disciplines when aligned with dharma and taught by a competent authority.
Nārada reports that after concluding the fire-rite (bringing the sacrificial fire to its formal close), the revered Lord addresses people and instructs them on the two complementary ways of life—active duty and renunciant knowledge.