Shloka 21
भिक्षुलक्षणम्—एकचर्याः, अहिंसा, कैवल्याश्रमः
Marks of the Mendicant: Solitary Wandering, Non-Injury, and the Kaivalya-Discipline
धर्मद्वयं हि यो वेद स सर्वज्ञ: स सर्ववित् । स त्यागी सत्यसंकल्प: सत्य: शुचिरथेश्वर:,जो प्रवृत्ति और निवृत्तिरूप दो प्रकारके धर्मको जानता है, वही सर्वज्ञ, सर्ववेत्ता, त्यागी, सत्यसंकल्प, सत्यवादी, पवित्र और समर्थ होता है
dharmadvayaṃ hi yo veda sa sarvajñaḥ sa sarvavit | sa tyāgī satyasaṅkalpaḥ satyaḥ śucir atheśvaraḥ ||
ویاس نے کہا—جو شخص دھرم کی دوہری صورت کو، یعنی حق کے مطابق عمل کی راہ (پروِرتّی) اور کنارہ کشی کی راہ (نِوِرتّی)، حقیقتاً جان لیتا ہے، وہی سَروَجْن اور سَروَوِت بن جاتا ہے۔ وہ تیاگی، سچّے عزم والا، گفتار و کردار میں سچا، باطن سے پاک اور صاحبِ استطاعت ہوتا ہے۔
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Knowing both dimensions of dharma—pravṛtti (responsible engagement in action) and nivṛtti (withdrawal/renunciation oriented to liberation)—is presented as complete wisdom. This integrated understanding yields ethical excellence: renunciation without hypocrisy, truthfulness in intention and speech, inner purity, and the capacity for self-mastery.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Vyāsa states a criterion for true spiritual-ethical authority: the person who comprehends the two paths of dharma is described through a chain of virtues (omniscience/discernment, renunciation, truthful resolve, truthfulness, purity, and mastery), emphasizing the ideal knower as a moral exemplar.