Shloka 60

Āśrama-dharma: Duties of the Four Life-Stages (आश्रमधर्मः)

Devanagari script

इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि वर्णाश्रमधर्मकथने षष्टितमो5 ध्याय:

Transliteration

iti śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi rājadharmānuśāsanaparvaṇi varṇāśramadharmakathane ṣaṣṭitamo 'dhyāyaḥ |

Translation

ഇങ്ങനെ ശ്രീമഹാഭാരതത്തിലെ ശാന്തിപർവ്വത്തിനുള്ളിലെ രാജധർമ്മാനുശാസനപർവ്വത്തിൽ വർണ്ണാശ്രമധർമ്മവിവരണവിഷയമായ അറുപതാം അധ്യായം സമാപ്തമായി.

Word by Word

• इति: thus; so
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• श्री: auspicious; venerable (honorific)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्री
• Form: Feminine, Nominative (used as honorific prefix), Singular

• महाभारते: in the Mahabharata
• महाभारते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शान्तिपर्वणि: in the Shanti Parva
• शान्तिपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शान्तिपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि: in the Parva (section) of instruction on the king's duties
• राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• वर्णाश्रमधर्मकथने: in the narration/discussion of the duties of varnas and ashramas
• वर्णाश्रमधर्मकथने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्णाश्रमधर्मकथन
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• षष्टितमः: sixtieth
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षष्टितम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Mahābhārata
• Śānti Parva
• Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva
• Varṇāśrama-dharma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This verse functions as a colophon marking the completion of a chapter devoted to varṇāśrama-dharma within the broader instruction on rājadharma. The ethical emphasis is that governance and social order are framed through dharma, articulated via duties appropriate to social roles (varṇa) and life-stages (āśrama).

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma’s discourse to Yudhiṣṭhira continues in the Śānti Parva. Here the text signals that the chapter on explaining varṇa- and āśrama-based duties has concluded, transitioning to the next unit of instruction.