Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 63
उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit
Angiras Teaching
पताकादीपिकाकीर्णे दिव्यघण्टानिनादिते । स्त्रीसहस्रानुचरिते स नर: सुखमेधते
aṅgirā uvāca |
patākādīpikākīrṇe divyaghaṇṭāninādite |
strīsahasrānucarite sa naraḥ sukham edhate ||
पताकाओं और दीपकों से आलोकित, दिव्य घंटानाद से गूँजता हुआ, सहस्रों स्त्रियों से अनुगत उस दिव्य विमान में वह नर परम सुख से समृद्ध होता है।
अंगियरा उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a karmic-ethical claim: rigorous self-restraint culminating in relinquishing the body through a vowed fast (anāśana-vrata, as explained in the surrounding prose) is said to yield exalted heavenly enjoyment—symbolized by a radiant, ornamented, celebratory celestial setting.
Aṅgirā is describing the posthumous state of a practitioner of a severe vow: the person is envisioned as seated in a splendid celestial vehicle, surrounded by lights, banners, and divine sounds, attended by many women, and thereby ‘thriving in happiness’ as the fruit of the vow.