Shloka 3
सूक्ष्मभूत-भूतात्मविज्ञानम्
Knowing the subtle principle and the bhūtātman through yoga
कषायं पाचयित्वा$<शु श्रेणिस्थानेषु च त्रिषु । प्रव्रजेच्च परं स्थान पारिव्राज्यमनुत्तमम्
kaṣāyaṃ pācayitvāśu śreṇisthāneṣu ca triṣu | pravrajec ca paraṃ sthānaṃ pārivrājyam anuttamam ||
Vyāsa dit : Après avoir promptement « cuit » (mûri et consumé) les impuretés intérieures, et après avoir traversé comme il se doit les trois stations ordonnées de la vie, on doit renoncer et entrer dans l’état le plus élevé : l’incomparable vie du mendiant errant (saṃnyāsa). La portée éthique est claire : le renoncement n’est pas une fuite, mais l’aboutissement d’une purification disciplinée et de devoirs accomplis, où s’éteignent l’attachement et l’aversion.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Renunciation (saṃnyāsa/pārivrājya) is presented as the highest stage, to be undertaken after one has purified inner defilements (attachments, aversions, passions) and properly lived through the three prior āśramas; it emphasizes maturity, duty, and inner cleansing as prerequisites for the supreme path.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and life-stages, Vyāsa advises the listener that after completing the ordered progression of brahmacarya, gṛhastha, and vānaprastha—and after destroying inner stains—one should ‘go forth’ into the unsurpassed wandering renunciant life.