Shloka 9
Tapas-śreṣṭhatā: Anāśana as the Highest Austerity
Bhagīratha–Brahmā Saṃvāda
दशैकरात्रान् दशपज्चरात्रा- नेकादशैकादशकान क्रतूंश्न । ज्योतिष्टोमानां च शतं यदिष्ट॑ फलेन तेनापि च नागतो5हम्
Bhagīratha uvāca — daśaikarātrān daśapañcarātrān ekādaśaikādaśakān kratūṃś ca | jyotiṣṭomānāṃ ca śataṃ yad iṣṭaṃ phalena tenāpi ca nāgato 'ham ||
Bhagīratha said: “I have performed ten sacrifices completed in a single night, ten completed in five nights, eleven completed in eleven nights, and even a hundred Jyotiṣṭoma sacrifices. Yet, even by the merit of those rites, I did not come to this state.”
भगीरथ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual achievements and accumulated merit (yajña-phala) are not, by themselves, sufficient to guarantee the highest spiritual or posthumous attainment; the verse underscores humility and points toward a higher criterion beyond mere ritual quantity.
Bhagīratha speaks about his extensive performance of Vedic sacrifices—various multi-night rites and a hundred Jyotiṣṭomas—yet confesses that even the fruits of these rituals did not bring him to the present state, implying that another cause or higher principle governs the outcome.