Shloka 9
Varṇāśrama-ācāra and Vikarma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Safe Dharmas (शिवधर्मप्रश्नः)
निराशी: स्यात् सर्वसमो निर्भोगो निर्विकारवान् | विप्र: क्षेमाश्रमं प्राप्तो गच्छत्यक्षरसात्मताम्,आशा-तृष्णाका सर्वथा त्याग करके सबके प्रति समान भाव रखे। भोगोंसे दूर रहे और हृदयमें किसी प्रकारका विकार न आने दे। इन्हीं सब धर्मोके कारण इस आश्रमको 'क्षेमाश्रम' (कल्याणप्राप्तिका स्थान) कहते हैं। इस आश्रममें आया हुआ ब्राह्मण अविनाशी ब्रह्मके साथ एकता प्राप्त कर लेता है
nirāśī syāt sarvasamo nirbhogo nirvikāravān | vipraḥ kṣemāśramaṃ prāpto gacchaty akṣarasātmatām ||
Bhīṣma said: “Let him be free from expectation, equal toward all, detached from enjoyments, and unshaken by inner modifications. A brahmin who has entered the ‘kṣema-āśrama’—the stage of life that leads to welfare and security—attains identity with the Imperishable (Brahman).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a renunciant ethic: abandon expectation and craving, maintain equal regard for all, avoid sense-indulgence, and remain inwardly unperturbed; such discipline in the kṣema-āśrama culminates in realization of oneness with the Imperishable Brahman.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma is advising on dharma and the life of spiritual discipline; here he describes the qualities of a brahmin/renunciant who enters the kṣema-āśrama and the ultimate result—attainment of identity with akṣara (Brahman).