Shloka 90
मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity
पूर्णेडथ विंशे दिवसे यो भुड्क्ते होकभोजनम्
Bhīṣma uvāca: pūrṇe ’tha viṁśe divase yo bhuṅkte ekabhōjanam, sa lokān vipulān ramyān ādityānām upāśnute.
قال بهيشما: «مَن إذا اكتملت عشرون يومًا اكتفى بوجبةٍ واحدة—مقيمًا على الصدق وعلى الانضباط في النذر، ممتنعًا عن اللحم، حافظًا للعفّة (brahmacarya)، ومُواظبًا على إرادة الخير لجميع الكائنات—بلغ العوالم الواسعة البهيجة التابعة لإله الشمس، الآديتيّات (Āditya).»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that rigorous self-restraint—especially regulated eating (one meal after twenty days), truthfulness, vow-observance, non-meat diet, celibacy, and active concern for the welfare of all beings—leads to exalted spiritual merit and attainment of radiant heavenly realms associated with the Sun (Ādityas).
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma instructs on dharma and the fruits of various vows and disciplines. Here he describes a specific austerity of infrequent single-meal observance and lists accompanying ethical restraints, concluding with the promised result: reaching the vast, pleasant worlds of the Sun-god.