Shloka 9

मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity

Devanagari script

त्रीणि वर्षाणि य: प्राशेत्‌ सततं त्वेकभोजनम्‌

Transliteration

trīṇi varṣāṇi yaḥ prāśet satataṃ tv ekabhojanam

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「三年のあいだ絶えず、一日に一度の食事のみで身を支える者は……」

Word by Word

• त्रीणि: three
• त्रीणि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रि
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• वर्षाणि: years
• वर्षाणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ष
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• यः: who
• यः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्राशेत्: should eat/partake
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + अश्
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• सततम्: constantly, always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सतत

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• एकभोजनम्: one meal (single daily meal)
• एकभोजनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: एकभोजन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds tapas through regulated consumption: sustained one-meal-a-day discipline is presented as a dharmic method to curb appetite, cultivate self-mastery, and support ethical steadiness.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he begins describing the merit and significance of a specific vow/austerity—continuous ekabhojana maintained for three years—setting up the results or praise that follow in subsequent lines.