Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 31

उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit

Angiras Teaching

Devanagari script

इति मासा नरव्याघ्र क्षिपतां परिकीर्तिता: । तिथीनां नियमा ये तु शृणु तानपि पार्थिव

Transliteration

iti māsā naravyāghra kṣipatāṃ parikīrtitāḥ | tithīnāṃ niyamā ye tu śṛṇu tān api pārthiva puruṣasiṃha ||

Translation

पुरुषसिंह! इस प्रकार मैंने मास-पर्यन्त एकभुक्त व्रत करने वालों के लिये विभिन्न मासों के फल कहे हैं। पृथ्वीनाथ! अब तिथियों के जो नियम हैं, उन्हें भी सुनो।

Word by Word

• {'iti': 'thus

• in this manner (concluding what was said)', 'māsāḥ': 'months', 'naravyāghra': 'tiger among men

• a heroic epithet for the king', 'kṣipatām': 'of those who observe (a vow/discipline)

• here referring to practitioners of the one-meal observance as previously described', 'parikīrtitāḥ': 'have been declared

• have been enumerated', 'tithīnām': 'of the tithis

• lunar days', 'niyamāḥ': 'rules

• regulations', 'ye tu': 'which indeed

• those which', 'śṛṇu': 'listen', 'tān api': 'those also', 'pārthiva': 'earth-lord

• king', 'puruṣasiṃha': 'lion among men

Speaker

अंगियरा उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Aṅgiras
• Pārthiva (the king addressed)
• Naravyāghra (epithet of the addressee)
• Puruṣasiṃha (epithet of the addressee)
• Māsa (months)
• Tithi (lunar days)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

After explaining the month-wise fruits of the one-meal vow, the teacher transitions to the next layer of dharma: the disciplined observance of tithis (lunar days), emphasizing that ethical-religious practice is structured by sacred time and rule-governed restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Aṅgiras, in a didactic exchange, addresses a king with honorific epithets and concludes his account of month-based results for a vow, then invites the listener to hear the subsequent instructions concerning tithi-based regulations.