Shloka 12

Devanagari script

वैश्या: शूद्राश्न यन्मोहादुपवासं प्रचक्रिरे । त्रिरात्रं वा द्विरात्रं वा तयोव््युष्टिन विद्यते,वैश्यों और शूद्रोंने जो मोहवश तीन रात अथवा दो रातका उपवास किया है, उसका उन्हें कोई फल नहीं मिला है

Transliteration

vaiśyāḥ śūdrāś ca yan mohād upavāsaṃ pracakrire | trirātraṃ vā dvirātraṃ vā tayoḥ vyuṣṭir na vidyate ||

Translation

Aṅgiras sprach: „Welches Fasten auch immer die Vaiśyas und Śūdras aus Verblendung auf sich nahmen—sei es drei Nächte oder zwei—ihnen erwächst daraus keinerlei geistige Frucht.“

Word by Word

वैश्याःVaishyas

शूद्राःShudras

चand

यत्which (that)

मोहात्from delusion; out of delusion

उपवासम्fasting; a fast

प्रचक्रिरेthey performed; they undertook

त्रिरात्रम्a three-night (fast)

वाor

द्विरात्रम्a two-night (fast)

वाor

तयोःof those two (groups)

व्युष्टिःfruit; result; benefit

नnot

विद्यतेexists; is found

Speaker

अंगियरा उवाच

Characters & Entities

Aṅgiras

Vaiśyas

Śūdras

upavāsa (fasting)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Austerity such as fasting yields merit only when performed with right understanding and proper intention; when done “from delusion” (mohāt), it is portrayed as spiritually unproductive.

What is happening in the narrative?

The sage Aṅgiras is instructing about dharma and the efficacy of religious observances, stating that certain fasts undertaken by Vaiśyas and Śūdras out of confusion do not produce the intended religious result.