Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 58
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
मांसं तु कौमुद पक्ष वर्जितं पार्थ राजभि: । सर्वभूतात्मभूतस्थैरविदितार्थपरावरै:
māṁsaṁ tu kaumuda-pakṣa-varjitaṁ pārtha rājabhiḥ | sarva-bhūtātma-bhūtasthair aviditārtha-parāvaraiḥ ||
कुन्तीनन्दन! जिन राजाओं ने कौमुद ऋतु के पक्ष में मांस-भक्षण का निषेध किया, वे समस्त भूतों के आत्मरूप हो गए और परावर तत्त्व का ज्ञान प्राप्त कर सके।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that voluntary restraint—specifically abstaining from meat during a sacred seasonal/fortnight observance—cultivates compassion and self-mastery, and is said to yield elevated spiritual insight (knowledge of the higher and lower principles, para and apara).
In his instruction to Arjuna, Bhīṣma praises a vow observed by exemplary kings: refraining from meat during the Kaumuda fortnight(s). He presents this as a dharmic practice that led those rulers to a heightened, universal identification with all beings and to deeper metaphysical understanding.