Shloka 4

Āśrama-dharma and Brahmacarya: Śuka’s Inquiry on Karma and Tyāga (शुक-प्रश्नः कर्मत्यागविवेकश्च)

Devanagari script

आचार्येणाभ्यनुज्ञातश्चतुर्णामेकमा श्रमम्‌ । आविमोक्षाच्छरीरस्य सोडवतिछेद्‌ यथाविधि,तदनन्तर आचार्यकी आज्ञा लेकर चारों आश्रमोंमेंसे किसी एक आश्रममें शास्त्रोक्त विधिके अनुसार जीवनपर्यन्त रहे (अथवा क्रमश: सभी आश्रमोंमें प्रवेश करे)

Transliteration

ācāryeṇābhyanujñātaś caturṇām ekam āśramam | āvimokṣāc charīrasya soḍavatīcched yathāvidhi ||

Translation

आचार्येणाभ्यनुज्ञातश्चतुर्णामेकमाश्रमम् । आविमोक्षाच्छरीरस्य सोडवत्तिष्ठेद् यथाविधि ॥

Word by Word

आचार्येणby the teacher

अभ्यनुज्ञातःpermitted/authorized

चतुर्णाम्of the four

एकम्one

आश्रमम्stage of life (āśrama)

आup to; until

विमोक्षात्until release

शरीरस्यof the body

षोडवतिin the sixteenth (year/age)

छेत्should cut off/should sever

यथाas; according to

विधिrule; prescribed procedure

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

ācārya (teacher/preceptor)

catur-āśrama (the four āśramas)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is to be lived through a regulated life-stage (āśrama) chosen with the preceptor’s sanction, and followed faithfully according to śāstra—either remaining in one āśrama for life or progressing through the traditional sequence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa is laying down a normative rule of conduct: after receiving the ācārya’s approval, a person adopts an āśrama-based way of life and maintains it in scripturally prescribed fashion until death (or moves step-by-step through the āśramas).