Shloka 4
Āśrama-dharma and Brahmacarya: Śuka’s Inquiry on Karma and Tyāga (शुक-प्रश्नः कर्मत्यागविवेकश्च)
आचार्येणाभ्यनुज्ञातश्चतुर्णामेकमा श्रमम् । आविमोक्षाच्छरीरस्य सोडवतिछेद् यथाविधि
ācāryeṇābhyanujñātaś caturṇām ekam āśramam | āvimokṣāc charīrasya soḍavatīcched yathāvidhi ||
तत्पश्चात् आचार्य की अनुमति पाकर चारों आश्रमों में से किसी एक आश्रम में प्रवेश करे और शास्त्र-विधि के अनुसार देह-त्याग तक उसी अनुशासन में स्थित रहे—(अथवा क्रमशः सब आश्रमों का अनुष्ठान करे)।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is to be lived through a regulated life-stage (āśrama) chosen with the preceptor’s sanction, and followed faithfully according to śāstra—either remaining in one āśrama for life or progressing through the traditional sequence.
Vyāsa is laying down a normative rule of conduct: after receiving the ācārya’s approval, a person adopts an āśrama-based way of life and maintains it in scripturally prescribed fashion until death (or moves step-by-step through the āśramas).