Mahabharata · Chapter 12.61
punaḥ śivānmahodarkānahiṃsrāṃllokasammatān /
brūhi dharmānsukhopāyānmadvidhānāṃ sukhāvahān //
bhīṣma uvāca /
brāhmaṇasya tu catvārastvāśramā vihitāḥ prabho /
varṇāstānnānuvartante trayo bhāratasattama //
uktāni karmāṇi bahūni rāja nsvargyāṇi rājanyaparāyaṇāni /
śāstrasya sarvasya vidhau smṛtāni kṣātre hi sarvaṃ vihitaṃ yathāvat //
kṣātrāṇi vaiśyāni ca sevamānaḥ śaudrāṇi karmāṇi ca brāhmaṇaḥ sat /
asmim̐lloke nindito mandacetāḥ / pare ca loke nirayaṃ prayāti //
yā sañjñā vihitā loke dāse śuni vṛke paśau /
vikarmaṇi sthite vipre tāṃ sañjñāṃ kuru pāṇḍava //
ṣaṭ्karmasampravṛttasya āśrameṣu caturṣvapi /
sarvadharmopapannasya tadbhūtasya kṛtātmanaḥ //
brāhmaṇasya viśuddhasya tapasyabhiratasya ca /
nirāśiṣo vadānyasya lokā hyakṣarasañjñitāḥ //
yo yasminkurute karma yādṛśaṃ yena yatra ca /
tādṛśaṃ tādṛśenaiva saguṇaṃ pratipadyate //
vṛddhyā kṛṣivaṇiktvena jīvasañjīvanena ca /
vettumarhasi rājendra svādhyātmaguṇitena ca //
kālasañcoditaḥ kāle kālaparyāyaniścitaḥ /
uttamādhamamadhyāni karmāṇi kurute'vaśaḥ //
antavanti pradānāni paraṃ śreyaskarāṇi ca /
svakarmavihito loko hyakṣaraḥ sarvatomukhaḥ //
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