Shloka 30
Rājā–Rāja-Śabda-Prabhavaḥ — The Origin and Rationale of Kingship and Daṇḍanīti
त्रिवर्ग इति विख्यातो गण एष स्वयम्भुवा । तदनन्तर ब्रह्माजीने अपनी बुद्धिसे एक लाख अध्यायोंका एक ऐसा नीतिशास्त्र रचा, जिसमें धर्म, अर्थ और कामका विस्तारपूर्वक वर्णन है। जिसमें इन वर्गोंका वर्णन हुआ है, वह प्रकरण “त्रिवर्ग” नामसे विख्यात है ।। चतुर्थो मोक्ष इत्येव पृथगर्थ: पृथग्गुण:
trivarga iti vikhyāto gaṇa eṣa svayambhuvā | tadanantaraṁ brahmājīnaḥ svabuddhyā eka-lakṣa-adhyāyānām ekaṁ nītiśāstraṁ racitaṁ, yasmin dharma-artha-kāmānāṁ vistara-pūrvakaṁ varṇanaṁ asti | yasmin eteṣāṁ vargāṇāṁ varṇanaṁ kṛtaṁ, tat prakaraṇaṁ “trivarga” nāmnā vikhyātam || caturtho mokṣa ity eva pṛthag-arthaḥ pṛthag-guṇaḥ ||
Bhishma said: This triad, famed as the ‘three aims of life’ (trivarga), is a classification taught from the tradition of Svayambhu (the Self-born). Thereafter Brahmā, by his own intellect, composed a vast treatise on polity and right conduct—said to extend to a hundred thousand chapters—in which Dharma, Artha, and Kāma are explained in full detail. The section that expounds these three is therefore known as ‘Trivarga’. Yet there is also a fourth aim, called Mokṣa—distinct in its purpose and distinct in its quality.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Human life is commonly organized around three aims—Dharma (moral duty), Artha (welfare and power), and Kāma (legitimate enjoyment)—but Bhishma emphasizes that Mokṣa is a fourth aim, distinct in nature and higher in orientation, pointing beyond worldly goals toward liberation.
In the Shanti Parva instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma explains a traditional classification of life-goals and attributes an authoritative nītiśāstra to Brahmā. He identifies the section dealing with Dharma-Artha-Kāma as ‘Trivarga’ and then introduces Mokṣa as a separate, fourth objective.