Shloka 93

Devanagari script

एकविंशे तु दिवसे यो भुड्क्ते होकभोजनम्‌,सेव्यमानो वरस्त्रीभि: क्रीडत्यमरवत्‌ प्रभु: । जो लगातार बारह महीनोंतक प्रतिदिन अग्निहोत्र करता हुआ इक्कीसवें दिनपर एक बार भोजन करता है, वह शुक्राचार्य तथा इन्द्रके दिव्यलोकमें जाता है। इतना ही नहीं, उसे अश्विनीकुमारों और मरुद्गणोंके लोकोंकी भी प्राप्ति होती है। उन लोकोंमें वह सदा सुख भोगनेमें ही तत्पर रहता है। दुःखोंका तो वह नाम भी नहीं जानता है और श्रेष्ठ विमानपर विराजमान हो सुन्दरी स्त्रियोंसे सेवित होता हुआ शक्तिशाली देवताके समान क्रीड़ा करता है

Transliteration

ekaviṁśe tu divase yo bhuṅkte hokabhojanam, sevyamāno varastrībhiḥ krīḍaty amaravat prabhuḥ |

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “One who, after maintaining the discipline of daily Agnihotra, eats only once on the twenty-first day—taking a simple, regulated meal—attains celestial worlds. There, seated in a splendid aerial car and attended by excellent women, he lives like a lord among the immortals, sporting in divine enjoyment, untouched by sorrow.”

Word by Word

एकविंशेon the twenty-first

तुbut/indeed

दिवसेday

यःwho

भुङ्क्तेeats/partakes

एकभोजनम्a single meal (once-only eating)

सेव्यमानःbeing attended/served

वरस्त्रीभिःby excellent women

क्रीडतिsports/plays

अमरवत्like an immortal (like a god)

प्रभुःthe lord/powerful one

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Agnihotra (implied by the accompanying prose explanation)

Śukrācārya (mentioned in the accompanying prose explanation)

Indra (mentioned in the accompanying prose explanation)

Aśvinīkumāras (mentioned in the accompanying prose explanation)

Marutgaṇas (mentioned in the accompanying prose explanation)

Vimāna (splendid aerial car; implied by the accompanying prose explanation)

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?

The verse links disciplined ritual observance and regulated eating (a form of tapas and niyama) with auspicious karmic results—attainment of higher worlds and freedom from sorrow—presenting self-restraint and fidelity to sacred duty as ethically potent.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the fruits of vows and rites. Here he describes the exalted posthumous condition of one who maintains Agnihotra and follows a strict regimen culminating in eating once on the twenty-first day, enjoying divine status and pleasures in celestial realms.