Shloka 10
गार्स्थ्यं. खलु॒ द्वितीयमाश्रम॑ं वदन्ति । तस्य समुदाचारलक्षणं सर्वमनुव्याख्यास्याम: । समावृत्तानां सदाचाराणां सहधर्मचर्यफलार्थिना गृहाश्रमो विधीयते । धर्मार्थकामावाप्तिद्वात्र त्रिवर्गसाधनमपेक्ष्यागर्हितिन कर्मणा धनान्यादाय स्वाध्यायोपलब्धप्रकर्षण. वा ब्रद्धार्षिनिर्मितेन वा अद्रिसारगतेन वा । हव्यकव्यनियमाभ्यासदैवत-प्रसादोपलब्धेन वा धनेन गृहस्थो गार्हस्थ्यं वर्तयेत् । तद्धि सर्वाश्रमाणां मूलमुदाहरन्ति । गुरुकुलनिवासिन:ः परिव्राजका ये चान्ये संकल्पितव्रतनियम-धर्मानुष्ठायिनस्तेषामप्यत एव भिक्षाबलिसंविभागा: प्रवर्तन्ते,गार्हस्थ्यको दूसरा आश्रम कहते हैं। अब हम उसमें पालन करने योग्य समस्त उत्तम आचरणोंकी व्याख्या करेंगे। जो सदाचारका पालन करनेवाले ब्रह्मचारी विद्या पढ़कर गुरुकुलसे स्नातक होकर लौटते हैं, उन्हें यदि सहधर्मिणीके साथ रहकर धर्माचरण करने और उसका फल पानेकी इच्छा हो तो उनके लिये गृहस्थाश्रममें प्रवेश करनेकी विधि है। इस आश्रममें धर्म, अर्थ और काम तीनोंकी प्राप्ति होती है; इसलिये त्रिवर्गसाधनकी इच्छा रखकर गृहस्थको उत्तम कर्मके द्वारा धन संग्रह करना चाहिये, अर्थात् वह स्वाध्यायसे प्राप्त हुई विशिष्ट योग्यतासे, ब्रह्मर्षियोंद्वारा धर्मशास्त्रोंमें निश्चित किये हुए मार्गसे अथवा पर्वतसे उपलब्ध हुए उसके सारभूत मणि रत्न, दिव्यौषधि एवं स्वर्ण आदिसे धनका संचय करे। अथवा हव्य (यज्ञ), कव्य (श्राद्ध), नियम, वेदाभ्यास तथा देवताओंकी प्रसन्नतासे प्राप्त धनके द्वारा गृहस्थ पुरुष अपनी गृहस्थीका निर्वाह करे; क्योंकि गृहस्थ आश्रमको सब आश्रमोंका मूल कहते हैं। गुरुकुलमें निवास करनेवाले ब्रह्मचारी, वनमें रहकर संकल्पके अनुसार व्रत, नियम तथा धर्मोंका पालन करनेवाले अन्यान्य वानप्रस्थ एवं सब कुछ त्यागकर सर्वत्र विचरनेवाले संन्यासी भी इस गृहस्थाश्रमसे ही भिक्षा, भेंट, उपहार तथा दान आदि पाकर अपने-अपने धर्मके पालनमें प्रवृत्त होते हैं
gārhasthyaṃ khalu dvitīyam āśramaṃ vadanti | tasya samudācāra-lakṣaṇaṃ sarvam anuvyākhyāsyāmaḥ | samāvṛttānāṃ sadācārāṇāṃ saha-dharma-caryā-phala-arthinā gṛhāśramo vidhīyate | dharma-artha-kāmāvāpti-dvārāt trivarga-sādhanaṃ apekṣya agārhiṇī karmaṇā dhanāny ādāya svādhyāyoplabdha-prakarṣeṇa vā bṛddharṣi-nirmiteṇa vā adri-sāra-gatena vā | havya-kavya-niyamābhyāsa-daivata-prasādoplabdhena vā dhanena gṛhastho gārhasthyaṃ vartayet | taddhi sarvāśramāṇāṃ mūlam udāharanti | gurukula-nivāsinaḥ parivrājakā ye cānye saṃkalpita-vrata-niyama-dharmānuṣṭhāyinas teṣām apy ata eva bhikṣā-bali-saṃvibhāgāḥ pravartante |
Bharadvāja said: “They declare householdership to be the second stage of life. I shall explain in full the marks of proper conduct that belong to it. For those disciplined students who, having completed their study and returned (as graduates) with good conduct, desire to live with a lawful partner, practice dharma, and obtain its fruits, entry into the householder’s order is prescribed. Since this āśrama is a gateway to the three aims—dharma, prosperity, and legitimate enjoyment—the householder, seeking the means to these three, should acquire wealth through blameless work: by excellence gained from study and training, by the paths laid down in the dharma-teachings fashioned by the ancient seers, or by resources obtained from the mountains and the earth’s essences. Or he may sustain his household with wealth gained through the proper performance of offerings to gods and ancestors, observances, Vedic recitation, and by the favor of the deities. For they call the householder’s order the root of all the āśramas: students dwelling in the teacher’s house, forest-dwellers devoted to vows and disciplines, and wandering renunciants as well—all are enabled to pursue their own dharma through alms, offerings, and shares that flow from the householders.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Householdership is presented as the foundational āśrama: it enables the pursuit of dharma, prosperity, and legitimate enjoyment through blameless livelihood and ritual duties, and it materially supports students, forest-dwellers, and renunciants through alms and offerings.
Bharadvāja begins an exposition of the second life-stage (gārhasthya), defining who should enter it (returned students seeking dharma with a spouse), how wealth should be acquired ethically, and why the householder order is called the root that sustains the other āśramas.