Shloka 2
Gārhasthya-Śreṣṭhatā and Kṣatriya-Daṇḍadhāraṇa
Householder Primacy and the Royal Duty of Punishment
व्यास उवाच बीभत्सोर्वचनं सौम्य सत्यमेतद् युधिष्ठिर । शास्त्रदृष्ट: परो धर्म: स्थितो गार्हस्थ्यमाश्रित:
vyāsa uvāca bībhatsor vacanaṃ saumya satyam etad yudhiṣṭhira | śāstradṛṣṭaḥ paro dharmaḥ sthito gārhasthyam āśritaḥ ||
毗耶娑说道：“温和的由提湿提罗啊，毗婆诃苏（阿周那）所言确为真实。经由经典（śāstra）所教导的至上法（dharma），正是依托居家者之道——家住期（gṛhastha āśrama）——而稳固建立。”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms that the supreme, scripture-sanctioned dharma is sustained by the gṛhastha (householder) āśrama—implying that social, ritual, and ethical life depend upon householders’ responsibilities and support.
In the Śānti Parva discourse, Vyāsa addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and endorses Arjuna’s earlier point, emphasizing that the foundational support of dharma in society is the householder stage as recognized by śāstra.