Shloka 3
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
कथं प्रवृत्तिधर्मेषु भागा्हा देवता: कृता: । कथं निवृत्तिधर्माश्व कृता व्यावृत्तबुद्धयः
kathaṁ pravṛttidharmeṣu bhāgāḥ devatāḥ kṛtāḥ | kathaṁ nivṛttidharmeṣu ca kṛtā vyāvṛttabuddhayaḥ ||
शौनक उवाच—कथं प्रवृत्तिधर्मेषु भागभाजो देवताः कृताः? कथं च निवृत्तिधर्मेषु ऋषयः विषयवैराग्यबुद्धयः कृताः? किमर्थं एषा विभागव्यवस्था कृता?
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a foundational dharma-question: why the cosmos is organized with different beings aligned to different paths—deities oriented to ritual participation and receipt of offerings (pravṛtti), and sages oriented to detachment and renunciation (nivṛtti). It invites an explanation of complementary roles: sustaining worldly order through action and pointing beyond it through renunciation.
Śaunaka, in a dialogic setting, asks for the rationale behind the allocation of roles: why gods are made beneficiaries/participants in sacrificial action, and why sages are fashioned with withdrawn minds devoted to renunciant discipline. The question sets up a response about the origin and purpose of these two dharma-orientations.