Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
निवृत्तं चास्थितो धर्म क्षमी भागवत: प्रभु: । निवृत्तिधर्मान् विदधे स एव भगवान् प्रभु:
śaunaka uvāca | nivṛttaṃ cāsthito dharmaḥ kṣamī bhāgavataḥ prabhuḥ | nivṛtti-dharmān vidadhe sa eva bhagavān prabhuḥ ||
ਖ਼ਿਮਾਸ਼ੀਲ, ਸਭ ਦੇ ਸਵਾਮੀ, ਭਾਗਵਤ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ਨਾਰਾਇਣ ਆਪ ਨਿਵ੍ਰਿੱਤੀ-ਧਰਮ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਥਿਤ ਹਨ; ਅਤੇ ਉਹੀ ਸਰਬਸ਼ਕਤੀਮਾਨ ਭਗਵਾਨ ਨੇ ਨਿਵ੍ਰਿੱਤੀ-ਧਰਮਾਂ ਦਾ ਵਿਧਾਨ ਕੀਤਾ ਹੈ।
शौनक उवाच
Renunciant dharma (nivṛtti) and the virtue of forbearance (kṣamā) are presented as divinely grounded: the Lord himself abides in renunciation and is the authoritative source who ordains the disciplines of withdrawal from worldly pursuits.
Śaunaka, in a didactic setting, characterizes Bhagavān (understood here as Nārāyaṇa) as both exemplar and legislator of nivṛtti-dharma—linking the ethical ideal of renunciation to the Lord’s own nature and authority.