Mahabharata · Chapter 12.60
āśramāṇāṃ mahābāho śṛṇu satyaparākrama /
caturṇāmapi nāmāni karmāṇi ca yudhiṣṭhira //
vānaprasthaṃ bhaikṣacaryaṃ gārhasthyaṃ ca mahāśramam /
brahmacaryāśramaṃ prāhuścaturthaṃ brahmaṇeritam //
cūḍākaraṇasaṃskāraṃ dvijātitvamavāpya ca /
ādhānādīni karmāṇi prāpya vedānadhītya ca //
sadāro vā'pyadāro vā vinītaḥ saṃyatendriyaḥ /
vānaprasthāśramaṃ gacchetkṛtakṛtyo gṛhāśramāt //
tatrāraṇyakaśāstrāṇi samadhītya sa dharmavit /
ūrdhvaretāḥ prajā hitvā gacchatyakṣarasātmatām //
etānyeva nimittāni munīnāmūrdhvaretasām /
kartavyānīha vipreṇa rājannādau vipaścitā //
caritabrahmacaryasya brāhmaṇasya viśāmpate /
bhaikṣacaryāsvadhīkāraḥ praśasto dehamokṣaṇe //
yatrāstamitaśāyī syānniragniraniketanaḥ /
yathopalabdhajīvī syānmunirdānto jitendriyaḥ //
nirāśīrnirnamaskāro nirbhogo nirvikāravān /
vipraḥ kṣemāśramaṃ prāpto gacchatyakṣarasātmatām //
adhītya vedānkṛtasarvakṛtyaḥ santānamutpādya sukhāni bhuktvā /
samāhitaḥ pracaredduścaraṃ taṃ gārhasthyadharmaṃ munidharmajuṣṭam //
svadāratuṣṭastvṛtukālagāmī niyogasevī na śaṭho na jihnaḥ /
mitāśano devarataḥ kṛtajñaḥ satyo mṛduścānṛśaṃsaḥ kṣamāvān //
dānto vidheyo havyakavyāpramatto hyannasya dātā satataṃ dvijebhyaḥ /
amatsarī sarvaliṅgapradātā vaitānanityaśca gṛhāśramī syāt //
athātra nārāyaṇagītamāhu rmaharṣayastāta mahānubhāvāḥ /
mahārthamatyantatapaḥ prayuktaṃ taducyamānaṃ hi mayā nibodha //
satyārjavaṃ cātithipūjanaṃ ca dharmastathārthaśca ratiḥ svadāraiḥ /
niṣevitavyāni sukhāni loke hyasminpare caiva mataṃ mamaitat //
bharaṇaṃ putradārāṇāṃ vedānāṃ cānupālanam /
sevatāmāśramaṃ śreṣṭhaṃ vadanti paramarṣayaḥ //
evaṃ hi yo brāhmaṇo yajñaśīlo gārhasthyamadhyāvasate yathāvat /
gṛhasthavṛttiṃ pratigāhya samya ksvarge viśuddhaṃ phalamaśnute saḥ //
tasya dehaṃ parityajya iṣṭakāmākṣayā matāḥ /
ānantyāyopakalpante sarvatokṣiśiromukhāḥ //
vasanneko japannekaḥ sarvānvedānyudhiṣṭhira /
ekasminneva cācārye śuśrūṣurmalapaṅkavān //
brahmacārī vratī nityaṃ nityaṃ dīkṣāparo vaśī / gurucchāyānugo nityamadhīyānaḥ suyantritaḥ /
avicālyavratopetaṃ kṛtyaṃ kurvanvasetsadā //
śuśrūṣāṃ satataṃ kurvanguroḥ sampraṇameta ca /
ṣaṭ्karmasvanivṛttaśca na pravṛttaśca sarvaśaḥ //
nācaratyadhikāreṇa seveta dviṣato na ca /
eṣo'śramapadastāta brahmacāriṇa iṣyate //
Original text: Mahābhārata (southern recension) · Edition: Śrīman Mahābhāratam, ed. T. R. Krishnacharya and T. R. Vyasacharya, Nirnaya Sagar Press, Bombay 1906–1910; e-text by SARIT (Shrinivasa Varakhedi and others) · SARIT: Search and Retrieval of Indic Texts · SARIT (e-text) via Internet Archive · CC BY-SA 3.0