Shloka 18
भिक्षुलक्षणम्—एकचर्याः, अहिंसा, कैवल्याश्रमः
Marks of the Mendicant: Solitary Wandering, Non-Injury, and the Kaivalya-Discipline
वेदज्ञानि द्वयान्याहु: प्रवक्तूणीतराणि च । प्रवक्तृणि विशिष्टानि सर्वधर्मोपधारणात्
vedajñānī dvayāny āhuḥ pravaktṝṇy itarāṇi ca | pravaktṝṇi viśiṣṭāni sarvadharmopadhāraṇāt ||
व्यास ने कहा—वेदज्ञ भी दो प्रकार के बताए गए हैं—प्रवक्ता और अप्रवक्ता। उनमें प्रवक्ता श्रेष्ठ हैं; क्योंकि वे वेद में बताए हुए समस्त धर्मों को धारण करते हैं।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vedic learning is not merely private knowledge; the one who can expound and transmit it is considered superior because teaching requires embodying and sustaining the full ethical and ritual framework (sarva-dharma) that the Veda enjoins.
In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa classifies Veda-knowers into two groups—expounders and non-expounders—and argues for the higher standing of the expounder, emphasizing the social and ethical responsibility of preserving dharma through instruction.