Shloka 7

Varṇāśrama-ācāra and Vikarma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Safe Dharmas (शिवधर्मप्रश्नः)

Devanagari script

चरितव्रद्वाचर्यस्य ब्राह्मणस्य विशाम्पते । भैक्षचर्यास्वधीकार: प्रशस्त इह मोक्षिण:

Transliteration

caritavratācāryasya brāhmaṇasya viśāmpate | bhaikṣacaryāsv adhikāraḥ praśasta iha mokṣiṇaḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“众民之主啊，对于那位以严谨誓戒而住、守持梵行之婆罗门，若解脱（moksha）之愿在心中生起，则在此生之中，称许他有资格以乞食为生而入出家之道。也就是说，能守清净禁欲之律者，即便仍在梵行阶段，也可正当地承受以求解脱为旨的行乞修行之路。”

Word by Word

• चरितव्रत: of one who has observed the vow (brahmacarya)
• चरितव्रत: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चरित (√चर्) + व्रत
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• आचर्यस्य: of the practitioner/observer (of conduct)
• आचर्यस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: आचर्य (from आ-√चर्)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• ब्राह्मणस्य: of a Brahmin
• ब्राह्मणस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• विशाम्पते: O lord of the people
• विशाम्पते: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विशाम्पति
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• भैक्षचर्यासु: in the mendicant practices (living on alms)
• भैक्षचर्यासु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भैक्षचर्या
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Plural

• अधिकारः: eligibility/right
• अधिकारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अधिकार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रशस्तः: is praised/commended
• प्रशस्तः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रशस्त (√शंस्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इह: here (in this context/world)
• इह: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह

• मोक्षिणः: of the seeker of liberation
• मोक्षिणः: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोक्षिन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• प्रजानाथ: O lord of creatures/subjects
• प्रजानाथ: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजानाथ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Yudhishthira (addressed as viśāmpati/prajānātha)
• Brahmin (brāhmaṇa)
• Moksha-seeker (mokṣiṇ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A Brahmin who has faithfully maintained brahmacarya and disciplined vows is considered fully eligible, if motivated by liberation, to adopt the mendicant (bhaikṣa) life of renunciation—even directly from the brahmacarya stage—because such renunciation is praised as dharmically proper for a moksha-seeker.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma addresses the king (Yudhishthira) and explains norms of life-stages and renunciation, stating that a disciplined brahmacārin Brahmin who turns toward moksha may rightly take up the alms-dependent renunciant path.