Shloka 7
Āśrama-dharma and Brahmacarya: Śuka’s Inquiry on Karma and Tyāga (शुक-प्रश्नः कर्मत्यागविवेकश्च)
प्रजावान् श्रोत्रियो यज्वा मुक्त एव ऋणैस्त्रिभि: । अथान्यानाश्रमान् पश्चात् पूतो गच्छेत कर्मभि:
prajāvān śrotriyo yajvā mukta eva ṛṇais tribhiḥ | athānyān āśramān paścāt pūto gacchet karmabhiḥ ||
Vyāsa explique qu’un maître de maison qui a engendré une descendance, qui est instruit dans le Veda et qui a accompli des sacrifices, se trouve affranchi des trois dettes fondamentales. Ayant ainsi acquitté la dette envers les ancêtres par la progéniture, envers les ṛṣi par l’étude védique, et envers les dieux par les rites sacrificiels, il doit se purifier en accomplissant comme il se doit les devoirs prescrits ; alors seulement il pourra passer aux autres étapes de la vie (les āśrama ultérieurs).
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Before moving on to later life-stages, a person should fulfill gṛhastha-dharma by discharging the three debts: to ancestors through progeny (and related duties), to seers through Vedic study, and to gods through yajña; only then is one considered purified and fit to enter other āśramas.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states a normative rule for life-order: the householder completes key obligations (ṛṇa-traya) and prescribed rites, becomes purified, and then proceeds to the subsequent āśramas.