Shloka 52

उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit

Angiras Teaching

Devanagari script

वह सिंह और व्याप्र जुते हुए विमानसे यात्रा करता है और सत्तर हजार वर्षोतक स्वर्गलोकमें सुख भोगता है ।।

Transliteration

māsād ūrdhva nara-vyāghra nopavāso vidhīyate | vidhim tv anaśanasya āhuḥ pārtha dharma-vido janāḥ ||

Translation

Aṅgiras dijo: «Oh tigre entre los hombres, no se prescribe un voto de ayuno más allá de un mes. Oh Pārtha, quienes conocen el dharma declaran que ésta es la regla correcta del anaśana (la abstinencia de alimento).»

Word by Word

• {'māsāt': 'from a month

• after a month (ablative of māsa)', 'ūrdhva': 'beyond

• exceeding', 'nara-vyāghra': 'tiger among men

• a heroic man (vocative epithet)', 'na': 'not', 'upavāsaḥ': 'fasting

• religious abstinence', 'vidhīyate': 'is prescribed

• is enjoined (passive)', 'vidhim': 'rule

• ordinance', 'tu': 'but

• indeed (emphatic/contrastive particle)', 'anaśanasya': 'of anaśana

• of total abstention from food (genitive)', 'āhuḥ': 'they say

• they declare', 'pārtha': 'O son of Pṛthā (Arjuna) (vocative)', 'dharma-vidaḥ': 'knowers of dharma

• experts in righteous conduct', 'janāḥ': 'people

Speaker

अंगियरा उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Aṅgiras
• Pārtha (Arjuna)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches moderation and rule-governed ascetic practice: fasting (upavāsa/anaśana) should not be extended beyond one month, because dharma is upheld by disciplined limits rather than extreme self-harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

The sage Aṅgiras addresses Arjuna (Pārtha), laying down a normative guideline for religious fasting—stating that dharma-knowers prescribe a maximum duration of one month for such abstinence.