Shloka 14
Vyāsa’s Boon-Offer and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Remorse in the Forest Assembly (आश्रमवासिक पर्व, अध्याय ३६)
गान्धारी तु जलाहारी कुन्ती मासोपवासिनी । संजय: षष्ठभूक्तेन वर्तयामास भारत,भारत! गान्धारी केवल जल पीकर रहने लगीं। कुन्तीदेवी एक महीनेतक उपवास करके एक दिन भोजन करती थीं और संजय छठे समय अर्थात् दो दिन उपवास करके तीसरे दिन संध्याको आहार ग्रहण करते थे
gāndhārī tu jalāhārī kuntī māsopavāsinī | sañjayaḥ ṣaṣṭhabhūktena vartayāmāsa bhārata ||
Nārada said: Gāndhārī lived only on water. Kuntī observed a month-long fast, taking food only once after the month had passed. Sañjaya, O Bhārata, sustained himself by eating at the sixth interval—fasting for two days and taking his meal on the evening of the third. The passage highlights their austere discipline and deliberate restraint as a dharmic response to grief, renunciation, and the forest life of late years.
नारद उवाच