Shloka 3
अध्याय २९४ — योगलक्षणम् तथा सांख्यपरिसंख्यानम्
Yoga Definition and Sāṃkhya Enumeration
क्षत्रधर्मा वैश्यधर्मा नावृत्ति: पतते द्विज: । शूद्रधर्मा यदा तु स्थात् तदा पतति वै द्विज:
kṣatradharmā vaiśyadharmā nāvṛttiḥ patate dvijaḥ | śūdradharmā yadā tu sthāt tadā patati vai dvijaḥ ||
パラーシャラは言った。「生計に乏しく、クシャトリヤあるいはヴァイシャの務めによって身を養うなら、二度生まれ（ドヴィジャ）はその位を失わない。だがシュードラに定められた生き方を採るとき、二度生まれはまことに直ちに堕する。」
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes permissible and impermissible livelihood substitutions for a dvija: adopting Kṣatriya or Vaiśya duties for subsistence is not treated as a fall, but adopting śūdra-dharma (service as one’s defining livelihood) is declared to cause immediate degradation.
In Śānti Parva’s dharma-discourse, Parāśara is instructing on varṇa-based duties and the ethics of livelihood (vṛtti), specifying how a dvija should respond to economic necessity without violating the boundaries of prescribed social conduct.