Shloka 60
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
कार्तवीर्यानिरुद्धा भ्यां नहुषेण यतातिना । नृगेण विष्वगश्लेन तथैव शशबिन्दुना
kārtavīryāniruddhābhyāṁ nahuṣeṇa yayātinā | nṛgeṇa viśvagāśvena tathaiva śaśabindunā ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: «(Entre tales reyes estuvieron) Kārtavīrya y Aniruddha, Nahuṣa y Yayāti, Nṛga y Viśvagāśva, y asimismo Śaśabindu. Oh hijo de Kuntī, aquellos gobernantes que, en el mes de Āśvina, renunciaron a la carne durante ambas quincenas —o incluso durante una sola— se identificaron con el Sí mismo de todos los seres y alcanzaron el conocimiento de la realidad suprema y relativa (parāvara)».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that even a time-bound discipline—abstaining from meat during Āśvina for one or two fortnights—can cultivate compassion and self-restraint, leading to inner purification and ultimately to insight into the Self and the nature of reality (parāvara-tattva).
In his instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, Bhīṣma cites a list of exemplary kings (including Kārtavīrya, Nahuṣa, Yayāti, and others) who observed a meat-abstinence vow in Āśvina; he states that through this practice they attained elevated spiritual realization.