Shloka 3
Varṇāśrama-ācāra and Vikarma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Safe Dharmas (शिवधर्मप्रश्नः)
जटाधारणसंस्कारं द्विजातित्वमवाप्य च | आधानादीनि कर्माणि प्राप्य वेदमधीत्य च
jaṭādhāraṇasaṃskāraṃ dvijātitvam avāpya ca | ādhānādīni karmāṇi prāpya vedam adhītya ca ||
毗湿摩说道：既行结发之礼，又经授予“再生者”（dvija）之入门灌顶，完成吠陀学习之后，当依次履行诸种规定的祭仪义务，自安立圣火等事开始。如此自律的深思之人——以克制诸根而尽了家住期之责——便应进入林栖期，将居家生活视为已达其目的。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse outlines āśrama-dharma: after initiation and Vedic study, one should perform the prescribed fire-rites and household duties with discipline, and then, having fulfilled them, move onward toward the forest-dweller stage—treating each life-stage as a moral training completed before advancing.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma. Here he describes the proper progression of a twice-born person’s life: saṃskāras and Vedic education, then ritual responsibilities beginning with establishing the sacred fires, culminating in readiness to leave household life for the next stage.