Shloka 7
Āśrama-dharma and Brahmacarya: Śuka’s Inquiry on Karma and Tyāga (शुक-प्रश्नः कर्मत्यागविवेकश्च)
प्रजावान् श्रोत्रियो यज्वा मुक्त एव ऋणैस्त्रिभि: । अथान्यानाश्रमान् पश्चात् पूतो गच्छेत कर्मभि:
prajāvān śrotriyo yajvā mukta eva ṛṇais tribhiḥ | athānyān āśramān paścāt pūto gacchet karmabhiḥ ||
गृहस्थ पुरुष संतती उत्पन्न करून पितृ-ऋण, वेदांचा स्वाध्याय करून ऋषि-ऋण आणि यज्ञांचे अनुष्ठान करून देव-ऋण—या तिन्ही ऋणांतून मुक्त होतो. अशा रीतीने तिन्ही ऋणांपासून सुटून विधिपूर्वक कर्मे आचरून स्वतःला पवित्र करावे; त्यानंतरच इतर आश्रमांत प्रवेश करावा.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Before moving on to later life-stages, a person should fulfill gṛhastha-dharma by discharging the three debts: to ancestors through progeny (and related duties), to seers through Vedic study, and to gods through yajña; only then is one considered purified and fit to enter other āśramas.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states a normative rule for life-order: the householder completes key obligations (ṛṇa-traya) and prescribed rites, becomes purified, and then proceeds to the subsequent āśramas.