Shloka 7
रंगमंचपर स्त्री आदिके वेषमें उतरकर नाचना या खेल दिखाना, बहुरूपियेका काम करना, मदिरा और मांस बेचकर जीविका चलाना तथा लोहे और चमड़ेकी बिक्री करना-- ये सब काम (सबके लिये) लोकमें निन्दित माने गये हैं। जिसके घरमें पूर्वपरम्परासे ये काम न होते आये हों, उसे स्वयं इनका आरम्भ नहीं करना चाहिये। जिसके यहाँ पहलेसे इन्हें करनेकी प्रथा हो, वह भी छोड़ दे तो महान् धर्म होता है--ऐसा शास्त्रका निर्णय है ।। संसिद्धः पुरुषो लोके यदाचरति पापकम् | मदेनाभिप्लुतमनास्तच्च न ग्राह्मुमुच्यते,यदि कोई जगतमें प्रसिद्ध हुआ पुरुष घमण्डमें आकर या मनमें लोभ भरा रहनेके कारण पापाचरण करने लगे तो उसका वह कार्य अनुकरण करने योग्य नहीं बताया गया है
raṅgamañcapar strī-ādike veṣaṃ utkarṣya nācanaṃ vā khelaṃ darśanaṃ, bahurūpiyasya karma, madirā-māṃsa-vikrayeṇa jīvikā, tathā loha-carma-vikrayaḥ—ete sarve karmāṇi loke ninditāni manyante. yasya gṛhe pūrva-paramparayā etāni karmāṇi na pravṛttāni syuḥ, sa svayaṃ tāny ārabheta na. yasya tu kule pūrvata eva eṣā prathā vartate, so 'pi yadi tāni tyajet, mahān dharma iti śāstra-niścayaḥ. saṃsiddhaḥ puruṣo loke yadācarati pāpakam, madena abhipluta-manās tac ca na grāhyam anukaraṇīyam ucyate.
Parāśara says: Acts such as performing on a stage in women’s or other disguises to dance or entertain, working as a shape-shifting impersonator, earning a living by selling liquor and meat, and trading in iron and leather are regarded in society as blameworthy occupations. One in whose household these have not been practiced by ancestral tradition should not initiate them. Even where such practices already exist by custom, abandoning them is considered a great act of dharma—this is the settled judgment of the śāstras. Moreover, if a person who is well-known in the world commits sinful conduct out of intoxicated pride or a mind flooded with greed, that deed is not to be accepted as a model for imitation.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Certain livelihoods are socially censured; one should not newly adopt such work if it is not part of one’s inherited household practice, and even if it is traditional, giving it up is praised as a higher dharma. Additionally, the misdeeds of eminent people—done from pride or greed—must not be treated as examples to follow.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction setting, Parāśara delivers a normative ethical guideline: he lists occupations considered blameworthy, advises restraint and reform (especially abandoning such practices), and warns against copying the immoral behavior of socially prominent individuals.