Shloka 1

उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit

Angiras Teaching

Devanagari script

ऑपन-माज बक। अऑि-्छऋाय षर्डाधिकशततमोब< ध्याय: मास

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—sarveṣām eva varṇānāṁ mlecchānāṁ ca pitāmaha | upavāse matir iyaṁ kāraṇaṁ ca na vidmahe ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira dijo: «Oh, Abuelo, gentes de todos los órdenes sociales —e incluso quienes están fuera de ellos, los mlecchas— aplican su mente al ayuno. Sin embargo, no comprendo qué causa en verdad esa inclinación. ¿Cuál es la razón de la práctica del upavāsa?»

Word by Word

• {'yudhiṣṭhira uvāca': 'Yudhiṣṭhira said', 'sarveṣām': 'of all', 'eva': 'indeed, certainly', 'varṇānām': 'of the varṇas (social orders/classes)', 'mlecchānām': 'of mlecchas

• outsiders/foreign peoples (non-Vedic communities in epic usage)', 'ca': 'and', 'pitāmaha': 'Grandfather

• Bhīṣma (honorific address)', 'upavāse': 'in fasting

• in the observance of upavāsa', 'matiḥ': 'mind, inclination, intent', 'iyam': 'this', 'kāraṇam': 'cause, reason', 'na': 'not', 'vidmahe': 'we know/understand'}

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma)
• varṇas
• mlecchas
• upavāsa (fasting)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: fasting is shown as a widespread human practice cutting across social boundaries, prompting the question of its true rationale—whether spiritual discipline, ethical purification, or some universal motive.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira questions Bhīṣma (addressed as Pitāmaha) about why people of all varṇas and even mlecchas undertake fasting, seeking the underlying cause and meaning of the observance.