Shloka 22
कामबन्धन-निवृत्ति तथा शान्तिलक्षण-उपदेशः | Release from Desire-Bondage and the Marks of Peace
न चार्थबद्धः कर्माणि धर्मवान् कश्चिदाचरेत् । गृहस्थवृत्तयस्तिस्रस्तासां नि:श्रेयसं परम्
na cārthabaddhaḥ karmāṇi dharmavān kaścid ācaret | gṛhasthavṛttayas tisras tāsāṁ niḥśreyasaṁ param ||
कोई भी धर्मात्मा पुरुष धन-लोभ से बँधकर धर्मकर्मों का अनुष्ठान न करे। गृहस्थ के लिए आजीविका की तीन वृत्तियाँ बताई गई हैं; उनमें उत्तरोत्तर प्रत्येक अधिक श्रेष्ठ और परम कल्याण की ओर ले जाने वाली है।
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma should not be practiced as a means for acquiring wealth; right action must be free from greed. For householders, livelihood should be chosen in a way that increasingly supports purity and the highest welfare (niḥśreyasa).
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on conduct, Vyāsa lays down a principle of motivation: dharmic acts lose their integrity when driven by profit, and he introduces the graded teaching of three householder livelihoods, ranked by their spiritual benefit.