Shloka 18
जापक–इक्ष्वाकु–सत्यविवादः
The Jāpaka, Ikṣvāku, and the Dispute on Truth and Merit
उज्छवृत्तिर्गुहस्थो यः स्वधर्माचरणे रत: । त्यक्तकामसुखारम्भ: स्वर्गस्तस्य न दुर्लभ:
ujchavṛttir guhāstho yaḥ svadharmācaraṇe rataḥ | tyaktakāmasukhārambhaḥ svargas tasya na durlabhaḥ ||
भरद्वाज बोले—जो गृहस्थ ब्राह्मण उञ्छवृत्ति से (बिखरे हुए दानों को बीनकर) जीवन-निर्वाह करता है, अपने स्वधर्म के आचरण में तत्पर रहता है और कामसुख-प्रेरित आरम्भों का त्याग कर देता है—उसके लिए स्वर्ग दुर्लभ नहीं है।
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
A householder can attain high spiritual reward by faithfully practicing svadharma with extreme simplicity (ujchavṛtti) and by renouncing pleasure-driven undertakings; inner discipline, not prosperity, is presented as the decisive factor.
In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja states a normative rule: he describes an ideal gṛhastha who lives by gleaning and restrains sensual pursuits, and he declares that such a person’s attainment of svarga is easy.