Shloka 13
कपिलगोसंवादे गृहस्थ-त्यागधर्मयोः प्रमाण्यविचारः
Kapila–Cow Dialogue: Authority of Householder and Renunciant Dharmas
भीष्म उवाच अतीव तपसा युक्तो घोरेण स बभूव ह । तथोपस्पर्शनरत:ः सायं प्रातर्महातपा:
bhīṣma uvāca | atīva tapasā yukto ghoreṇa sa babhūva ha | tathopasparśana-rataḥ sāyaṃ prātar mahā-tapāḥ |
Bhishma sprach: Mit überaus furchtbarer Askese begabt, wurde er wahrlich zu einem gewaltigen Asketen. Jener große Übende war der rituellen Reinigung hingegeben—er badete und verrichtete mit strenger Regelmäßigkeit die Abend- und Morgenobservanzen—ein Bild standhafter Selbstbeherrschung und treuer Erfüllung der Pflichten der Waldlebensstufe (vānaprastha).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma expressed as disciplined daily practice: severe tapas combined with regular purificatory observances (morning and evening). Ethical strength is shown not by display but by steady adherence to prescribed duties and self-restraint.
Bhishma begins describing an exemplary ascetic (Jājali in the immediate context), emphasizing how intensely he practiced austerity and how consistently he performed daily purificatory rites at dawn and dusk.