Shloka 61
उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit
Angiras Teaching
स्वस्थ: सफलसंकल्प: सुखी विगतकल्मष: । अतः वह पवित्रात्मा पुरुष वस्त्राभूषणोंसे अलंकृत हो सैकड़ों स्त्रियोंसे भरे हुए और इच्छानुसार चलनेवाले सुवर्ण-सदृश विमानपर बैठकर रमण करता है। वह स्वस्थ, सफलमनोरथ, सुखी एवं निष्पाप होता है ।।
svāsthyaḥ saphala-saṅkalpaḥ sukhī vigata-kalmaṣaḥ | ataḥ sa pavi-trātmā puruṣaḥ vastrābhūṣaṇaiḥ alaṅkṛtaḥ śataśaḥ strībhiḥ parivṛtaḥ kāma-gamena suvarṇa-sadṛśena vimānena āruhya ramate | sa svāsthyaḥ saphala-manorathaḥ sukhī ca niṣpāpaḥ || anaśnan deham utsṛjya phalaṃ prāpnoti mānavaḥ | yaḥ pumān anaśana-vrataṃ kṛtvā dehaṃ tyajati sa prātaḥ-kāla-sūrya-sadṛśa-prabhāḥ suvarṇa-kāntiḥ vaidūrya-muktā-jāla-vibhūṣitaḥ vīṇā-mṛdaṅga-nināditaḥ patākā-dīpa-samujjvalitaḥ divya-ghaṇṭā-nādena ghoṣamāṇaḥ sahasrāpsarā-yukta-vimāne upaviśya divya-sukhaṃ bhuṅkte ||
Aṅgiras said: “He becomes healthy, his resolves bear fruit, he is happy and free from sin. Therefore that pure-souled man—adorned with garments and ornaments—enjoys himself seated in a golden, wish-moving celestial chariot (vimāna), surrounded by hundreds of women. He remains sound in body, fulfilled in desire, joyful, and blameless. A person who, observing the vow of fasting, relinquishes the body attains the following reward: radiant like the morning sun, golden-hued, decorated with cat’s-eye gems and pearls, resounding with the music of vīṇā and mṛdaṅga, illuminated by banners and lamps, echoing with divine bell-sounds—he sits in a vimāna attended by thousands of apsarases and experiences heavenly delight.”
अंगियरा उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that disciplined self-restraint—specifically the vow of fasting undertaken as a religious observance—purifies a person (vigata-kalmaṣa) and yields auspicious results. It frames ethical self-control as a cause of inner purity and meritorious destiny, expressed through the idiom of heavenly reward.
Aṅgiras describes the posthumous फल (reward) of one who performs an anaśana-vrata and then relinquishes the body: the person is portrayed as radiant and adorned, traveling in a wish-moving golden vimāna amid music, lights, and apsarases, enjoying divine pleasures—an illustrative depiction of the merit gained through the vow.