Shloka 16

Devanagari script

तृतीये दिवसे यस्तु प्राश्नीयादेकभोजनम्‌ | सदा द्वादशमासांस्तु जुह्दानो जातवेदसम्‌,जो बारह महीनोंतक प्रति तीसरे दिन एक समय भोजन करता, नित्य सबेरे उठता और अग्निकी परिचर्यामें तत्पर हो नित्य अग्निमें आहुति देता है, वह अतिरात्र यागका परम उत्तम फल पाता है

Transliteration

tṛtīye divase yas tu prāśnīyād ekabhojanam | sadā dvādaśamāsāṁs tu juhvāno jātavedasam ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “He who, on every third day, takes only a single meal, and who for twelve months continually offers oblations into the sacred fire (Agni), attains the supremely excellent fruit of the Atirātra sacrifice.”

Word by Word

तृतीयेon the third

दिवसेday

यःwho

तुindeed/but

प्राश्नीयात्should eat

एकभोजनम्a single meal (once-eating)

सदाalways

द्वादशमासान्twelve months

तुindeed/and

जुह्वानःoffering (into fire), sacrificing

जातवेदसम्Jātavedas (Agni)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Agni (Jātavedas)

Atirātra (sacrifice)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sustained self-restraint in food (eating only once every third day) combined with steady fire-offerings for a full year is presented as a powerful dharmic discipline, yielding merit comparable to the eminent Atirātra sacrifice.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma and religious observances, he describes a specific austerity-and-sacrifice regimen and states the spiritual reward it confers—namely, the highest fruit associated with the Atirātra rite.