ददाति यजते चापि तपस्वी च भवत्यपि । मधुमांसनिवृत्त्येति प्राह चैवं बृहस्पति:
dadāti yajate cāpi tapasvī ca bhavaty api | madhumāṃsa-nivṛttyeti prāha caivaṃ bṛhaspatiḥ ||
बृहस्पतिजी का कथन है—जो मद्य और मांस का त्याग कर देता है, वह दान देता, यज्ञ करता और तप करता है; अर्थात उसे दान, यज्ञ और तपस्या का फल प्राप्त होता है।
भीष्म उवाच
Abstaining from alcohol and meat is praised as a powerful ethical discipline that yields the same religious merit as charity (dāna), sacrifice (yajña), and austerity (tapas).
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he cites Brihaspati as an authoritative voice, presenting a concise rule: renunciation of intoxicants and meat is itself a form of high religious practice with great merit.