Shloka 6
Āśrama-dharma and Brahmacarya: Śuka’s Inquiry on Karma and Tyāga (शुक-प्रश्नः कर्मत्यागविवेकश्च)
गृहस्थस्त्वेष धर्माणां सर्वेषां मूलमुच्यते । यत्र पक्वकषायो हि दान्तः सर्वत्र सिध्यति,यह गृहस्थ-आश्रम सब धर्मोंका मूल कहा जाता है। इसमें रहकर अन्त:करणके रागादि दोष पक जानेपर जितेन्द्रिय पुरुषको सर्वत्र सिद्धि प्राप्त होती है
gṛhasthas tveṣa dharmāṇāṃ sarveṣāṃ mūlam ucyate | yatra pakvakaṣāyo hi dāntaḥ sarvatra sidhyati ||
Vyāsa said: The householder’s stage (gṛhastha) is declared to be the root of all the duties of dharma. For it is here that a self‑controlled person—whose inner impurities such as passion have fully matured and been burnt away—attains success in every sphere of righteous living.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the gṛhastha-āśrama is the foundational support of all dharmas, because it sustains society and provides the practical field in which disciplined, sense-controlled living and inner purification can mature into comprehensive success in righteous life.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Vyāsa is presenting a doctrinal point about the hierarchy and function of the āśramas, emphasizing the householder stage as the base from which other modes of life and spiritual aims are supported and fulfilled.