Shloka 7
Varṇāśrama-ācāra and Vikarma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Safe Dharmas (शिवधर्मप्रश्नः)
चरितव्रद्वाचर्यस्य ब्राह्मणस्य विशाम्पते । भैक्षचर्यास्वधीकार: प्रशस्त इह मोक्षिण:
caritavratācāryasya brāhmaṇasya viśāmpate | bhaikṣacaryāsv adhikāraḥ praśasta iha mokṣiṇaḥ ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Wahai pelindung rakyat, bagi seorang brāhmaṇa yang telah hidup dalam laku berkaul dan menjaga brahmacarya, bila kerinduan akan mokṣa bangkit, maka dalam hidup ini juga dipuji sebagai tepat baginya untuk menempuh hidup mengemis sebagai seorang saṃnyāsin.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
A Brahmin who has faithfully maintained brahmacarya and disciplined vows is considered fully eligible, if motivated by liberation, to adopt the mendicant (bhaikṣa) life of renunciation—even directly from the brahmacarya stage—because such renunciation is praised as dharmically proper for a moksha-seeker.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma addresses the king (Yudhishthira) and explains norms of life-stages and renunciation, stating that a disciplined brahmacārin Brahmin who turns toward moksha may rightly take up the alms-dependent renunciant path.