Shloka 58
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
मांसं तु कौमुद पक्ष वर्जितं पार्थ राजभि: । सर्वभूतात्मभूतस्थैरविदितार्थपरावरै:
māṁsaṁ tu kaumuda-pakṣa-varjitaṁ pārtha rājabhiḥ | sarva-bhūtātma-bhūtasthair aviditārtha-parāvaraiḥ ||
কুন্তীনন্দন! যে রাজারা কৌমুদ ঋতুর পক্ষকালে মাংস ভক্ষণ নিষিদ্ধ করেছিলেন, তাঁরা সকল জীবের আত্মারূপে প্রতিষ্ঠিত হলেন এবং পর-অপর তত্ত্বের জ্ঞান লাভ করলেন।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that voluntary restraint—specifically abstaining from meat during a sacred seasonal/fortnight observance—cultivates compassion and self-mastery, and is said to yield elevated spiritual insight (knowledge of the higher and lower principles, para and apara).
In his instruction to Arjuna, Bhīṣma praises a vow observed by exemplary kings: refraining from meat during the Kaumuda fortnight(s). He presents this as a dharmic practice that led those rulers to a heightened, universal identification with all beings and to deeper metaphysical understanding.