Shloka 8
संधेयासंधेय-पुरुषनिर्णयः (Criteria for Allies and Non-Allies) — with the opening of the Gautama narrative
अहिंसा सत्यवचनं दानमिन्द्रियनिग्रह: । एतेभ्यो हि महाराज तपो नानशनात् परम्,महाराज! अहिंसा, सत्यभाषण, दान और इन्द्रिय-संयम--इन सबसे बढ़कर तप है और उपवाससे बड़ी कोई तपस्या नहीं है
ahiṃsā satyavacanaṃ dānam indriyanigrahaḥ | etebhyo hi mahārāja tapo nānaśanāt param ||
Bhīṣma said: “O great king, non-violence, truthful speech, generosity, and restraint of the senses—these are austerities. Yet beyond these, there is no higher penance than fasting (upavāsa).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma ranks key moral disciplines—non-violence, truthfulness, charity, and sense-control—as forms of tapas, and then emphasizes fasting as a supreme austerity because it directly curbs craving and strengthens self-mastery in the pursuit of dharma.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he is enumerating virtues and austerities, presenting a hierarchy of ethical practices and highlighting fasting as an especially powerful discipline.