साम्प्रतं श्रोतुमिच्छामि ब्रूहि वर्णाश्रमान् विभो । तत्र ये विहिताचाराः कृपया वद तानपि ॥ ३ ॥
sāmprataṁ śrōtumicchāmi brūhi varṇāśramān vibhō | tatra yē vihitācārāḥ kṛpayā vada tānapi || 3 ||
Translation
Now I wish to hear: tell me, Lord, of the classes and the stages of life, and kindly tell me also the conduct laid down for them.
Word by word
- sāmprataṁ
- now
- śrōtum
- (śrotum) to hear
- icchāmi
- I wish
- brūhi
- tell
- varṇa
- the classes
- āśramān
- and the stages of life
- vibhō
- O Lord
- tatra
- in them
- yē
- which
- vihita
- laid down
- ācārāḥ
- the kinds of conduct
- kṛpayā
- kindly
- vada
- tell
- tān
- them
- api
- also
Meaning
This is the question that shapes the whole chapter. Pārvatī asks about the varṇas, the classes of society (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra), and the āśramas, the stages of a life (student, householder, forest-dweller, renunciant), and about the ācāra, the conduct, prescribed for each. The commentary glosses "tatra" as "in the varṇas and āśramas". The answer will run to the end of the chapter, and it will not simply repeat the older Dharmaśāstras: Śiva reshapes the whole order for the Kali age.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
Tatra: there, in the varṇas and āśramas.