Shloka 3
सूक्ष्मभूत-भूतात्मविज्ञानम्
Knowing the subtle principle and the bhūtātman through yoga
कषायं पाचयित्वा$<शु श्रेणिस्थानेषु च त्रिषु । प्रव्रजेच्च परं स्थान पारिव्राज्यमनुत्तमम्,पंक्तिक्रमसे स्थित पूर्वोक्त तीन आश्रम ब्रह्मचर्य, गृहस्थ और वानप्रस्थमें चित्तके राग- द्वेष आदि दोषोंको पकाकर--उन्हें नष्ट करके शीघ्र ही सर्वोत्तम चतुर्थ आश्रम संन््यासको ग्रहण कर ले
kaṣāyaṃ pācayitvāśu śreṇisthāneṣu ca triṣu | pravrajec ca paraṃ sthānaṃ pārivrājyam anuttamam ||
व्यास म्हणाले—पूर्वोक्त तीन क्रमबद्ध आश्रमांत राहून राग-द्वेषादी कषाय ‘पकवून’—म्हणजेच जाळून नष्ट करून—लवकरच सर्वोच्च अवस्था, अनुत्तम पारिव्राज्य—संन्यास—ग्रहण करावा.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Renunciation (saṃnyāsa/pārivrājya) is presented as the highest stage, to be undertaken after one has purified inner defilements (attachments, aversions, passions) and properly lived through the three prior āśramas; it emphasizes maturity, duty, and inner cleansing as prerequisites for the supreme path.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and life-stages, Vyāsa advises the listener that after completing the ordered progression of brahmacarya, gṛhastha, and vānaprastha—and after destroying inner stains—one should ‘go forth’ into the unsurpassed wandering renunciant life.