70
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 7, Ch. 12]
uṣitvaivaṁ guru-kule dvijo 'dhītyāvabudhya ca trayīṁ sāṅgopaniṣadaṁ yāvad-arthaṁ yathā-balam
dattvā varam anujñāto guroḥ kāmaṁ yadīśvaraḥ gṛhaṁ vanaṁ vā praviśet pravrajet tatra vā vaset
uṣitvā—residing; evam—in this way; guru-kule—under the care of the spiritual master; dvi-jaḥ—the twiceborn, namely the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas; adhītya—studying Vedic literature; avabudhya—understanding it properly; ca—and; trayīṁ—the Vedic literatures; sa-aṅga—along with supplementary parts; upaniṣadam—as well as the Upaniṣads; yāvat-artham—as far as possible; yathā-balam—as far as one can, according to one's ability; dattvā—giving; varam—remuneration; anujñātaḥ—being asked; guroḥ—of the spiritual master; kāmaṁ—desires; yadi—if; īśvaraḥ—capable; gṛhaṁ—household life; vanaṁ—retired life; vā—either; praviśet—one should enter; pravrajet—or get out of; tatra—there; vā—either; vaset—should reside.
TRANSLATION
According to the rules and regulations mentioned above, one who is twiceborn, namely a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya, should reside in the guru-kula under the care of the spiritual master. There he should study and learn all the Vedic literatures along with their supplements and the Upaniṣads, according to his ability and power to study. If possible, the student or disciple should reward the spiritual master with the remuneration the spiritual master requests, and then, following the master's order, the disciple should leave and accept one of the other āśramas, namely the gṛhastha-āśrama, vānaprastha-āśrama or sannyāsa-āśrama, as he desires.
PURPORT
To study the  Vedas  and understand them, of course, requires some special intelligence, but the members of the three higher sections of