Shloka 12

अन्नदानफलं (Anna-dāna-phala) / The Fruit of Food-Giving

Devanagari script

तथा भाद्रपदे मासि हृषीकेशेति पूजयन्‌ | सौत्रामणिमवाप्रोति पूतात्मा भवते च हि

Transliteration

tathā bhādrapade māsi hṛṣīkeśeti pūjayan | sautrāmaṇim avāpnoti pūtātmā bhavate ca hi ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: Ebenso erlangt im Monat Bhādrapada, wer den Herrn unter dem Namen „Hṛṣīkeśa“ verehrt, das Verdienst des Sautrāmaṇi-Opfers; wahrlich, seine Seele wird gereinigt.

Word by Word

तथाthus, likewise

भाद्रपदेin (the month) Bhādrapada

मासिin the month

हृषीकेशO Hṛṣīkeśa (Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa)

इतिthus (quoting)

पूजयन्worshipping

सौत्रामणिम्the Sautrāmaṇi (rite/sacrifice)

अवाप्नोतिobtains, attains

पूतात्माone whose self is purified; pure-souled

भवतेbecomes

चand

हिindeed, for

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Hṛṣīkeśa (Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa)

Bhādrapada (month)

Sautrāmaṇi (rite/merit)

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?

Bhīṣma teaches that devotional worship of the Lord under a specific divine name (here, Hṛṣīkeśa) at an auspicious time (Bhādrapada) yields the same purificatory merit associated with a respected Vedic rite (Sautrāmaṇi), emphasizing inner purification as the ethical fruit.

What is happening in the narrative?

In his instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira within the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues a sequence of observances tied to months and divine epithets, stating that worship in Bhādrapada addressing the deity as ‘Hṛṣīkeśa’ grants Sautrāmaṇi-like merit and purifies the worshipper.