Shloka 14
Ātma-saṃyama-dharma: One-pointedness of Mind and Senses (शुक–व्यास संवादः)
एको वाप्याश्रमानेतान् यो<नुतिष्ठेद् यथाविधि । अकामद्वेषसंयुक्त: स परत्र विधीयते
eko vāpy āśramān etān yo 'nutiṣṭhed yathāvidhi | akāma-dveṣa-saṁyuktaḥ sa paratra vidhīyate ||
Even if only a single person duly practices these āśrama-duties according to rule—free from desire and aversion—he becomes fit, in the hereafter, for the highest attainment: true knowledge of the Supreme Reality.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Faithful performance of one’s āśrama-dharma, done exactly as prescribed and purified of personal likes and dislikes (desire and aversion), becomes a direct qualification for the highest spiritual result—fitness for realizing the Supreme Reality.
In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states a general principle: even a single practitioner who observes the disciplines of the āśramas with inner detachment (free from craving and hostility) is destined for the supreme posthumous/spiritual attainment.