Shloka 17
युधिष्ठिरस्य अर्जुनप्रेषण-युक्तिवर्णनम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rationale for Sending Arjuna and Request to Dhaumya
त्रिरात्रमुषित: शाकं भक्षयित्वा नर: शुचि: । शाकाहारस्य यत् किंचिद् वर्षद्वादिशभि: कृतम्
trirātram uṣitaḥ śākaṃ bhakṣayitvā naraḥ śuciḥ | śākāhārasya yat kiñcid varṣadvādaśibhiḥ kṛtam
قال غُولاسْتْيَا: «إنَّ رجلًا يبقى طاهرًا، ويمكث ثلاث ليالٍ مقتاتًا على الخُضرة الورقية، ينالُ كلَّ ما يُنتجه نُسكُ الاقتصار على الخُضَر الذي يُمارَس اثنتي عشرة سنة.»
घुलस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that disciplined restraint in diet, combined with purity, can yield great spiritual merit; even a short, sincere observance may equal the fruit of a much longer practice.
Ghūlastya is describing the fruit (phala) of an austerity: staying for three nights while eating only greens, asserting that this brief observance grants the same merit attributed to maintaining a greens-only regimen for twelve years.