अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
ये च पुण्येषु तीर्थेषु अभिषेककृतश्रमा: । मखेषु च समन्त्रेषु भवन्त्यवभूथप्लुता:
ye ca puṇyeṣu tīrtheṣu abhiṣekakṛtaśramāḥ | makheṣu ca samantrēṣu bhavanty avabhūthaplutāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “And those who, after exerting themselves in ritual ablutions at holy and meritorious pilgrimage-fords, and those who, in sacrifices duly accompanied by Vedic mantras, become purified by the concluding ceremonial bath (avabhṛtha)—such people attain the sanctifying fruit of these sacred acts.”
भीष्म उवाच
The verse affirms the dharmic value of purification through sanctioned rites—pilgrimage bathing (tīrtha-abhiṣeka) and the avabhṛtha bath concluding a properly mantra-accompanied sacrifice—highlighting disciplined religious practice as a source of puṇya.
Bhīṣma continues instructing on dharma by listing categories of people whose ritual actions are purifying and merit-producing: those who undertake strenuous ablutions at holy tīrthas and those who complete Vedic sacrifices and bathe in the avabhṛtha rite.