मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity
चतुर्दशे तु दिवसे यः पूर्णे प्राशते हवि: । सदा द्वादशमासांस्तु महामेधफलं लभेत्
caturdaśe tu divase yaḥ pūrṇe prāśate haviḥ | sadā dvādaśamāsāṁs tu mahāmedhaphalaṁ labhet ||
Bhīṣma said: “He who partakes of the sacrificial oblation (havi) when the fourteenth day has fully arrived attains, for a full twelve months thereafter, the merit that is said to arise from a great sacrifice.”
भीष्म उवाच
That careful observance of prescribed sacred timing and ritual discipline—here, partaking of the oblation on the fully arrived fourteenth day—yields enduring merit, comparable to the fruit of a major sacrifice, for an extended period (twelve months).
In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma and religious observances, he describes a specific rule of ritual practice: consuming the sacrificial oblation at the proper calendrical moment (the completed fourteenth day) grants the practitioner the merit associated with a great yajña for the following year.