Shloka 55
उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit
Angiras Teaching
आर्तों वा व्याधितो वापि गच्छेदनशनं तु यः
ārto vā vyādhito vāpi gacched anaśanaṃ tu yaḥ
قال أنْغيراس: «إن كان المرء مكروبًا أو مريضًا، ثم مضى مع ذلك ليأخذ بالصيام (الانقطاع عن الطعام)…»
अंगियरा उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse begins a rule-of-thumb about anaśana (fasting): it frames fasting in relation to a person’s condition—especially distress or illness—implying that the ethical evaluation of austerity depends on the practitioner’s state and capacity, not merely on the act itself.
Aṅgiras is speaking in a didactic context within Anuśāsana Parva, introducing a case (“whoever, though distressed or sick, undertakes fasting…”) that is completed by the subsequent verse(s) to state the resulting merit, fault, or proper guideline.