Shloka 22
परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269
सर्ववर्णेषु जातेषु नासीत् कश्रनिद् व्यतिक्रम: । व्यस्तमेकं चतुर्धा हि ब्राह्मणा आश्रमं विदु:
sarvavarṇeṣu jāteṣu nāsīt kaścid vyatikramaḥ | vyastam ekaṃ caturdhā hi brāhmaṇā āśramaṃ viduḥ ||
Kapila nói: “Khi mọi giai tầng đã hình thành, thuở ban đầu không có sự sai lệch hay bất bình đẳng nào về nếp sống tu trì (āśrama). Về sau, lối sống vốn là một ấy được phân thành bốn giai đoạn; điều này các Bà-la-môn đều biết.”
कपिल उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kapila teaches that the life-discipline (āśrama) was originally conceived as a single, non-discriminatory framework across varṇas, and only later became articulated into four distinct stages—implying that ethical life precedes and can transcend later social compartmentalization.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic dialogue, Kapila explains an earlier condition of social-religious practice: after the emergence of the varṇas there was no disparity in āśrama observance, but subsequently the one āśrama was divided into four stages, a tradition remembered by learned Brahmanas.