Shloka 9
Cāturāśramya-dharma—Marks of the Four Āśramas (चातुराश्रम्यधर्मः)
चातुराश्रम्यधर्माश्च वेदधर्माश्च पार्थिव । ब्राह्मणेनानुगन्तव्या नान्यो विद्यात् कदाचन
cāturāśramyadharmāś ca vedadharmāś ca pārthiva | brāhmaṇenānugantavyā nānyo vidyāt kadācana ||
Wika ni Indra: “O hari, ang mga tungkuling nauukol sa apat na āśrama, at ang mga tungkuling itinuturo sa mga Veda, ay dapat sundin nang ganap ng isang Brahmin. Walang iba—gaya ng isang Śūdra—ang makaaalam nang tunay sa mga tungkuling Vedic sa gayon ding paraan.”
इन्द्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a varṇa-āśrama framework: the full range of āśrama-based duties and Vedic injunctions are presented as properly knowable and to be practiced primarily by brāhmaṇas, emphasizing Vedic learning and ritual-ethical competence as their defining responsibility.
Indra addresses a king and instructs him on dharma, specifically highlighting who is qualified to know and follow Vedic and āśrama duties, thereby reinforcing a normative social-religious order within the Śānti Parva’s broader discourse on righteous conduct.