Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 24
उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit
Angiras Teaching
निस्तरेदेकभक्तेन वैशाखं यो जितेन्द्रिय: । नरो वा यदि वा नारी ज्ञातीनां श्रेष्ठतां ब्रजेत्
nistared ekabhaktena vaiśākhaṃ yo jitendriyaḥ | naro vā yadi vā nārī jñātīnāṃ śreṣṭhatāṃ brājet ||
A self-controlled person who observes the month of Vaiśākha with devotional discipline, taking food only once a day, crosses beyond sin and suffering. Whether man or woman, such a practitioner attains preeminence among their own kin.
अंगियरा उवाच
Educational Q&A
Single-minded devotional observance, grounded in self-restraint, especially during the sacred month of Vaiśākha, is presented as a powerful dharmic practice that leads to spiritual deliverance and elevates one’s standing through earned merit.
Aṅgiras is instructing about the fruits of religious observances (vratas). In this verse he states that anyone—man or woman—who keeps the Vaiśākha observance with focused devotion and controlled senses gains deliverance and becomes foremost among their relatives.