Shloka 19
निवर्तनं च तत्रास्य त्रीणि पद्मानि चैव ह । उसे मोरोंसे जुता हुआ विमान प्राप्त होता है और वह सदा सप्तर्षियोंके लोकमें अप्सराओंके साथ निवास करता है। वहाँ तीन पद्म वर्षोतक वह निवास करता है ॥| १८३ || दिवसे यश्नतुर्थे तु प्राश्नीयादेकभोजनम्,जो प्रतिदिन अग्निहोत्र करता हुआ बारह महीनोंतक प्रति चौथे दिन एक बार भोजन करता है, वह वाजपेय यज्ञका परम उत्तम फल पाता है
nivartanaṃ ca tatrāsya trīṇi padmāni caiva ha | divase yajña-caturthe tu prāśnīyād eka-bhojanam ||
Bhīṣma said: “For him there is also a return (to a higher state), and indeed a residence there for three ‘padmas’ (a vast measure of time). And if, while maintaining the daily Agnihotra, he eats only once on every fourth day for twelve months, he attains the supremely excellent fruit of the Vājapeya sacrifice.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Steady performance of one’s sacred duties (like Agnihotra) combined with disciplined restraint in consumption can generate merit equal to that of grand sacrifices; inner discipline can substitute for costly ritual grandeur.
Bhīṣma is instructing on dharma by describing a specific observance: maintaining daily Agnihotra while eating only once every fourth day for a year, and stating that this yields the highest fruit comparable to the Vājapeya sacrifice, along with long residence in an exalted state.