Shloka 60
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
कार्तवीर्यानिरुद्धा भ्यां नहुषेण यतातिना । नृगेण विष्वगश्लेन तथैव शशबिन्दुना
kārtavīryāniruddhābhyāṁ nahuṣeṇa yayātinā | nṛgeṇa viśvagāśvena tathaiva śaśabindunā ||
কার্তবীর্য, অনিরুদ্ধ, নহুষ, যযাতি, নৃগ, বিশ্বগশ্ব এবং শশবিন্দুও— এঁরাও (সেই ব্রতে) অন্তর্ভুক্ত ছিলেন।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that even a time-bound discipline—abstaining from meat during Āśvina for one or two fortnights—can cultivate compassion and self-restraint, leading to inner purification and ultimately to insight into the Self and the nature of reality (parāvara-tattva).
In his instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, Bhīṣma cites a list of exemplary kings (including Kārtavīrya, Nahuṣa, Yayāti, and others) who observed a meat-abstinence vow in Āśvina; he states that through this practice they attained elevated spiritual realization.