70 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 7, Ch. 12

usitvaivam guru-kule
dvijo ‘dhitydvabudhya ca
trayim sangopanisadam
yavad-artharn yatha-balam

dattvéd varam anujnato
guroh kimam yadisvarah

grham vanam vd praviset
pravrajet tatra va vaset

usitudé—residing; evam—in this way; guru-kule—under the care of
the spiritual master; dvi-jah—the twiceborn, namely the braéhmanas,
ksatriyas and vaisyas; adhitya —studying Vedic literature; avabudhya —
understanding it properly; ca—and; trayim—the Vedic literatures; sa-
anga—along with supplementary parts; upanisadam—as well as the
Upanisads; yavat-artham—as far as possible; yatha-balam—as far as
one can, according to one’s ability; dattua—giving; varam—remunera-
tion; anujfidtah—being asked; guroh—of the spiritual master;
kamam—desires; yadi—if; isvarah—capable; grham—household life;
vanam—retired life; va—either; praviset—one should enter; pravrajet
—or get out of; tatra—there; véd—either; vaset—should reside.

TRANSLATION

According to the rules and regulations mentioned above, one
who is twiceborn, namely a brahmana, ksatriya or vaisya, 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 Upanisads, 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 disci-
ple should leave and accept one of the other asramas, namely the
grhastha-asrama, vanaprastha-aésrama or sannyasa-asrama, 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
