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 ||
व्यासजी बोले—पूर्वोक्त तीन क्रमबद्ध आश्रमों में रहकर राग-द्वेष आदि कषायों को पकाकर—अर्थात् जला-नष्ट करके—शीघ्र ही सर्वोत्तम परावस्था, अनुत्तम पारिव्राज्य—संन्यास—को ग्रहण करे।
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.