Shloka 6
पितोवाच वेदानधीत्य ब्रह्मचर्येण पुत्र पुत्रानिच्छेत् पावनार्थ पितृणाम् । अग्नीनाधाय विधिवच्चेष्टयज्ञो वन॑ प्रविश्याथ मुनिर्बुभूषेत्,पिताने कहा--बेटा! द्विजको चाहिये कि वह पहले ब्रह्मचर्य-व्रतका पालन करते हुए सम्पूर्ण वेदोंका अध्ययन करे; फिर गृहस्थाश्रममें प्रवेश करके पितरोंकी सद्गतिके लिये पुत्र पैदा करनेकी इच्छा करे। विधिपूर्वक त्रिविध अग्नियोंकी स्थापना करके यज्ञोंका अनुष्ठान करे। तत्पश्चात् वानप्रस्थ-आश्रममें प्रवेश करे। उसके बाद मौनभावसे रहते हुए संन्यासी होनेकी इच्छा करे
Bhīṣma uvāca: Pitovāca—vedān adhītya brahmacaryeṇa putra putrān icchet pāvanārthaṃ pitṝṇām | agnīn ādhāya vidhivac ceṣṭa-yajño vanaṃ praviśyātha munir bubhūṣet ||
Bhishma said: “The father said—Having studied the Vedas while observing the discipline of brahmacarya, a man should, upon entering the householder stage, desire sons for the purification and onward welfare of the ancestors. Having duly established the sacred fires and performed the prescribed sacrifices, he should then enter the forest-dweller’s life; thereafter, living in silence and restraint, he should aspire to become a renunciant.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
It outlines the classical progression of the four āśramas: first Vedic study with brahmacarya, then household life with procreation and ritual obligations for the sake of ancestors, then withdrawal to forest discipline, and finally renunciation marked by silence and inner detachment.
In Bhishma’s discourse on dharma, a traditional instruction is quoted as coming from a ‘father’ figure, prescribing the life-course duties of a dvija: study, maintain sacred fires and sacrifices, fulfill ancestral obligations through family life, and then gradually move toward ascetic withdrawal and sannyāsa.