Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
मेरा जन्म उसी महान् कुलमें हुआ है। मैंने अपने योग्य पतिके न मिलनेपर मोक्षधर्मकी शिक्षा ली तथा मुनिव्रत धारण करके मैं अकेली विचरती रहती हूँ ।।
merā janma tasmin mahān kule jātaṃ; mayā yogyapater alabdhau mokṣadharmasya śikṣā gṛhītā, munivratam āsthāya ekākī carāmi. na asmi satra-praticchannā, na para-svāpa-hāriṇī; na dharma-saṅkara-karī; sva-dharme asmi dhṛta-vratā.
わたしはあの輝かしい名門に生まれた。ふさわしい夫を得られなかったゆえ、解脱の法を学び、牟尼の誓いを受けて、ただ独り遍歴してきた。わたしは出家者の姿を借りて身を隠す者ではない。人の財を盗むこともない。ましてやダルマを乱し、汚すことなどしない。堅固な誓願に立ち、自らの正しい道に安住し、梵行(ブラフマチャリヤ)を断固として守り続ける。
भीष्य उवाच
The verse asserts ethical authenticity in renunciation: true ascetic life is marked by steadfast vows (especially brahmacarya), non-stealing, and non-disruption of dharma—rejecting hypocrisy (false ascetic disguise) and harm to social-moral order (dharma-saṅkara).
Within Bhishma’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, a first-person speaker (an ascetic woman in the cited passage) explains her life-choice: lacking a suitable marriage, she adopted mokṣa-oriented teachings and the muni’s vow, living alone while defending her moral purity against suspicions of deceit, theft, or causing dharmic disorder.