Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 15
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
अष्टमीयज्ञपरता चातुर्मास्यनिषेवणम् । पौर्णमासादयो यज्ञा नित्ययज्ञस्तथैव च
aṣṭamīyajñaparatā cāturmāsyaniṣevaṇam | paurṇamāsādayo yajñā nityayajñas tathaiva ca ||
মহাদেব বললেন—বানপ্রস্থ মুনির ধর্ম এই: অষ্টমী-যজ্ঞ (অষ্টকা)তে নিবিষ্ট থাকা, চাতুর্মাস্য ব্রত পালন করা, এবং পৌর্ণমাস প্রভৃতি যজ্ঞ ও নিত্যযজ্ঞ নিয়মিতভাবে সম্পাদন করা।
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines vānaprastha-dharma as disciplined continuity in sacred obligations: observing periodic vows (Cāturmāsya), performing calendrical rites (like Paurṇamāsa), and maintaining daily worship/sacrifice (nitya-yajña). Ethical life here is framed as steadiness, restraint, and fidelity to prescribed duty.
Maheśvara is instructing about the duties of the forest-dweller stage of life. Rather than describing an external event, the passage lists the ritual and vow-based practices that constitute the vānaprastha’s regulated religious routine.