Shloka 23
Adhyaya 28 — Alarka Inquires into Varna and Ashrama Dharma; Madalasa Defines the Fourfold Duties
एष तूद्देशतः प्रोक्तो गृहस्थस्याश्रमो मया ।
वानप्रस्थस्य धर्मं ते कथयाम्यवधार्यताम् ॥
eṣa tūddeśataḥ prokto gṛhasthasyāśramo mayā /
vānaprasthasya dharmaṃ te kathayāmy avadhāryatām //
एवं संक्षेपेण गृहस्थाश्रमो मया निरूपितः। इदानीं वानप्रस्थधर्मं ते वक्ष्यामि; स सावधानं श्रोतव्यः।
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FAQs
Dharma is taught progressively: first stabilizing society through gṛhastha duties, then guiding withdrawal. The listener is urged toward attentive assimilation, not casual hearing.
Meta-didactic connective tissue within the Purāṇa; outside direct pancalakṣaṇa categories.
The shift from ‘outline’ to the next āśrama mirrors inner evolution: once duties are internalized, the seeker is ready for subtler disciplines of detachment.