Shloka 13
कपिलगोसंवादे गृहस्थ-त्यागधर्मयोः प्रमाण्यविचारः
Kapila–Cow Dialogue: Authority of Householder and Renunciant Dharmas
भीष्म उवाच अतीव तपसा युक्तो घोरेण स बभूव ह । तथोपस्पर्शनरत:ः सायं प्रातर्महातपा:
bhīṣma uvāca | atīva tapasā yukto ghoreṇa sa babhūva ha | tathopasparśana-rataḥ sāyaṃ prātar mahā-tapāḥ |
Dijo Bhishma: Dotado de una austeridad feroz en extremo, llegó a ser, en verdad, un asceta formidable. Aquel gran practicante se entregaba a las purificaciones rituales: se bañaba y cumplía, con disciplina inquebrantable, las observancias de la tarde y de la mañana; imagen de firme dominio de sí y de fiel cumplimiento de los deberes propios de la etapa del morador del bosque (vānaprastha).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma expressed as disciplined daily practice: severe tapas combined with regular purificatory observances (morning and evening). Ethical strength is shown not by display but by steady adherence to prescribed duties and self-restraint.
Bhishma begins describing an exemplary ascetic (Jājali in the immediate context), emphasizing how intensely he practiced austerity and how consistently he performed daily purificatory rites at dawn and dusk.