Shloka 3
Varṇāśrama-ācāra and Vikarma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Safe Dharmas (शिवधर्मप्रश्नः)
जटाधारणसंस्कारं द्विजातित्वमवाप्य च | आधानादीनि कर्माणि प्राप्य वेदमधीत्य च
jaṭādhāraṇasaṃskāraṃ dvijātitvam avāpya ca | ādhānādīni karmāṇi prāpya vedam adhītya ca ||
जटाधारण आदि संस्कार तथा उपनयन के द्वारा द्विजत्व प्राप्त करके, वेदाध्ययन पूर्ण कर, फिर आधान आदि कर्मों से आरम्भ कर गार्हस्थ्य आश्रम का आश्रय ले। अग्निहोत्र आदि कर्तव्यों का पालन करते हुए, इन्द्रियों और मन को संयम में रखकर, जब गृहस्थ-धर्म से कृतकृत्य हो जाए, तब वानप्रस्थ आश्रम में प्रवेश करे।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse outlines āśrama-dharma: after initiation and Vedic study, one should perform the prescribed fire-rites and household duties with discipline, and then, having fulfilled them, move onward toward the forest-dweller stage—treating each life-stage as a moral training completed before advancing.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma. Here he describes the proper progression of a twice-born person’s life: saṃskāras and Vedic education, then ritual responsibilities beginning with establishing the sacred fires, culminating in readiness to leave household life for the next stage.