Shloka 166
उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit
Angiras Teaching
उपोष्य व्याधिरहितो वीर्यवानभिजायते । कुरुनन्दन! जो पुरुष भगवान्की आराधनाका इच्छुक होकर पंचमी
upoṣya vyādhir-ahito vīryavān abhijāyate | kurunandana! yo puruṣo bhagavān-ārādhanāyā icchukaḥ san pañcamī-ṣaṣṭhī-aṣṭamī tathā kṛṣṇapakṣasya caturdaśyāṁ svagṛhe brāhmaṇān bhojayati svayaṁ copavāsam ācarati, sa rogarahito balavān bhavati |
Aṅgiras said: “By fasting, one becomes free from illness and endowed with vigor. O joy of the Kurus, the man who, desiring to worship the Lord, feeds Brahmins in his own home on the fifth, sixth, and eighth lunar days, and on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight, while himself observing a fast—he becomes healthy and strong.”
अंगियरा उवाच
Educational Q&A
Devotional discipline (upavāsa) combined with charitable hospitality (feeding Brāhmaṇas on specified lunar days) is presented as a dharmic practice that yields tangible fruits—freedom from illness and increased strength—linking religious observance with ethical giving and personal self-restraint.
The sage Aṅgiras instructs a Kuru prince (addressed as Kurunandana) about a specific pattern of observances: on certain tithis—pañcamī, ṣaṣṭhī, aṣṭamī, and kṛṣṇapakṣa-caturdaśī—one should host and feed Brahmins at home while personally fasting, as an act of worship toward Bhagavān.