Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 29
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
अथर्वशिरसो ध्येता ब्रह्मचारी यतव्रत: । सत्यवादी धर्मशील: स्वकर्मनिरतश्न॒ सः
atharvaśiraso dhyetā brahmacārī yatavrataḥ | satyavādī dharmaśīlaḥ svakarmanirataś ca saḥ |
ভীষ্ম বললেন—যিনি অথর্বশিরসের ধ্যান করেন, ব্রহ্মচারী, নিয়মবদ্ধ ব্রতপালক, সত্যবাদী, ধর্মনিষ্ঠ এবং নিজ নির্ধারিত কর্মে সদা রত—সেই পুরুষ পংক্তি-পাবন।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that spiritual study and contemplation (Atharvaśiras), combined with disciplined vows, truthfulness, righteous character, and steady commitment to one’s own duties (svakarma), makes a person morally elevating—so virtuous that he is said to purify and uplift his lineage/community.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he identifies the qualities of an exemplary Vedic practitioner—one devoted to Atharvanic contemplation, brahmacarya, truth, and svadharma—and describes such a person as ‘panktīpāvana,’ a sanctifier of the family line.