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 |
Bhishma dit : Pourvu d’une austérité d’une âpreté extrême, il devint véritablement un ascète redoutable. Ce grand pratiquant se vouait aux purifications rituelles : il se baignait et accomplissait, avec une régularité disciplinée, les observances du soir et du matin — image d’une maîtrise de soi inébranlable et d’une fidélité aux devoirs de la vie de forestier (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.