Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 187
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
मेरा जन्म उसी महान् कुलमें हुआ है। मैंने अपने योग्य पतिके न मिलनेपर मोक्षधर्मकी शिक्षा ली तथा मुनिव्रत धारण करके मैं अकेली विचरती रहती हूँ ।।
merā janma tasmin mahān kule jātaṃ; mayā yogyapater alabdhau mokṣadharmasya śikṣā gṛhītā, munivratam āsthāya ekākī carāmi. na asmi satra-praticchannā, na para-svāpa-hāriṇī; na dharma-saṅkara-karī; sva-dharme asmi dhṛta-vratā.
我生于那显赫的宗族。既未得与我相称之夫，我便学习解脱之法，受持牟尼之誓，独自游行。吾非假托出离之相以自蔽者；不夺取他人财物；亦不致令正法紊乱败坏。我以坚固之誓安住于自身的正道，决意守持梵行（brahmacarya）。
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts ethical authenticity in renunciation: true ascetic life is marked by steadfast vows (especially brahmacarya), non-stealing, and non-disruption of dharma—rejecting hypocrisy (false ascetic disguise) and harm to social-moral order (dharma-saṅkara).
Within Bhishma’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, a first-person speaker (an ascetic woman in the cited passage) explains her life-choice: lacking a suitable marriage, she adopted mokṣa-oriented teachings and the muni’s vow, living alone while defending her moral purity against suspicions of deceit, theft, or causing dharmic disorder.