Shloka 52

उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit

Angiras Teaching

Devanagari script

वह सिंह और व्याप्र जुते हुए विमानसे यात्रा करता है और सत्तर हजार वर्षोतक स्वर्गलोकमें सुख भोगता है ।।

Transliteration

māsād ūrdhva nara-vyāghra nopavāso vidhīyate | vidhim tv anaśanasya āhuḥ pārtha dharma-vido janāḥ ||

Translation

Aṅgiras said: “O tiger among men, an observance of fasting is not prescribed beyond one month. O Pārtha, those who know dharma declare this to be the proper rule for anaśana (the vow of abstaining from food).”

Word by Word

• {'māsāt': 'from a month

• after a month (ablative of māsa)', 'ūrdhva': 'beyond

• exceeding', 'nara-vyāghra': 'tiger among men

• a heroic man (vocative epithet)', 'na': 'not', 'upavāsaḥ': 'fasting

• religious abstinence', 'vidhīyate': 'is prescribed

• is enjoined (passive)', 'vidhim': 'rule

• ordinance', 'tu': 'but

• indeed (emphatic/contrastive particle)', 'anaśanasya': 'of anaśana

• of total abstention from food (genitive)', 'āhuḥ': 'they say

• they declare', 'pārtha': 'O son of Pṛthā (Arjuna) (vocative)', 'dharma-vidaḥ': 'knowers of dharma

• experts in righteous conduct', 'janāḥ': 'people

Speaker

अंगियरा उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Aṅgiras
• Pārtha (Arjuna)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches moderation and rule-governed ascetic practice: fasting (upavāsa/anaśana) should not be extended beyond one month, because dharma is upheld by disciplined limits rather than extreme self-harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

The sage Aṅgiras addresses Arjuna (Pārtha), laying down a normative guideline for religious fasting—stating that dharma-knowers prescribe a maximum duration of one month for such abstinence.