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 ||
Setelah menjalani saṁskāra mengenakan jata (rambut gimbal) dan upanayana yang menganugerahkan status ‘dua-kali-lahir’, serta menuntaskan pelajaran Weda, hendaknya ia memasuki tahap gṛhastha dengan melaksanakan kewajiban-kewajiban yang ditetapkan, mulai dari penegakan api suci (ādhāna) dan seterusnya. Dengan mengerjakan agnihotra dan tugas-tugas lainnya, sambil mengekang indria dan batin, ketika ia telah menunaikan tujuan hidup berumah tangga, barulah ia memasuki āśrama vānaprastha.
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.