Shloka 39
Vidyā–Avidyā and the Twenty-Fifth Principle
Sāṃkhya–Yoga Clarification
यथा नदीनदा:ः सर्वे सागरे यान्ति संस्थितिम् | एवमाश्रमिण: सर्वे गृहस्थे यान्ति संस्थितिम्,जैसे सम्पूर्ण नदियाँ और नद समुद्रमें जाकर मिलते हैं, उसी प्रकार समस्त आश्रम गृहस्थका ही सहारा लेते हैं
yathā nadīnadāḥ sarve sāgare yānti saṃsthitim | evam āśramiṇaḥ sarve gṛhasthye yānti saṃsthitim ||
यथा नदीनदाः सर्वे सागरे यान्ति संस्थितिम्। एवमाश्रमिणः सर्वे गृहस्थे यान्ति संस्थितिम्॥
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
All four āśramas are interdependent, but the gṛhastha-āśrama is presented as their practical foundation: it provides sustenance, hospitality, charity, and social continuity, enabling students, forest-dwellers, and renunciants to pursue their disciplines.
In Śānti Parva’s dharma instruction, the sage Parāśara explains the hierarchy and mutual reliance of the life-stages, using the image of rivers merging into the ocean to show that the other āśramas ultimately ‘rest’ upon the householder’s support.