Shloka 9
हुत्वा शतसहस््र॑ं स सावित्र्या राजसत्तम: । षष्ठे पछ्ठे तदा काले बभूव मितभोजन:,राजाओंमें श्रेष्ठ अश्वपति ब्राह्मणोंके साथ प्रतिदिन गायत्री-मन्त्रसे एक लाख आहुति देकर दिनके छठे भागमें परिमित भोजन करते थे
hutvā śatasahasraṃ sa sāvitrayā rājasattamaḥ | ṣaṣṭhe bhakte tadā kāle babhūva mitabhojanaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: That best of kings, Aśvapati, having offered a hundred thousand oblations each day with the Sāvitrī (Gāyatrī) mantra, lived on measured food, taking his meal only at the appointed time—when the sixth portion of the day had come. The verse highlights disciplined austerity: devotion expressed through sustained ritual effort, and self-restraint expressed through regulated eating.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sustained dharmic practice is shown through two linked disciplines: devotion (regular, large-scale mantra-oblation) and self-control (measured eating at a regulated time). The verse presents ethical kingship as grounded in tapas and restraint rather than indulgence.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes King Aśvapati’s long-standing austerity: he performs daily offerings using the Sāvitrī/Gāyatrī mantra—said here to total one hundred thousand—and follows a strict regimen of limited food taken at a fixed division of the day.