Shloka 83

मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity

Devanagari script

अष्टादशे यो दिवसे प्राश्नीयादेकभोजनम्‌

Transliteration

aṣṭādaśe yo divase prāśnīyād ekabhojanam

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Whoever, on the eighteenth day, takes food only once (observing a single daily meal),”

Word by Word

• अष्टादशे: on the eighteenth
• अष्टादशे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टादश
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• यो: who
• यो: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दिवसे: on the day
• दिवसे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिवस
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• प्राश्नीयात्: should eat
• प्राश्नीयात्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + अश्
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• एकभोजनम्: a single meal (once-eating)
• एकभोजनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: एकभोजन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse promotes disciplined restraint—specifically limiting oneself to one meal on a designated day—as a dharmic practice. Such regulation of appetite is presented as a means to cultivate self-mastery and moral purity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is instructing (in a prescriptive, rule-like style) about a particular observance involving diet. The line is part of a larger set of guidelines where specific days and modes of eating are linked to ethical and religious merit.