Shloka 9
अहिंसा-आत्मौपम्य-उपदेशः | Instruction on Ahiṃsā and Self-Comparison Ethics
भरण्यां तु शिरो विद्यात् केशाना्द्रां नराधिप । समाप्ते तु घृतं दद्याद् ब्राह्मणे वेदपारगे
bharaṇyāṃ tu śiro vidyāt keśānārdraṃ narādhipa | samāpte tu ghṛtaṃ dadyād brāhmaṇe vedapārage ||
ビーシュマは言った。「王よ、バラニー（Bharaṇī）を『頭』と知り、アールドラー（Ārdrā）を『髪』と知れ（宇宙の形相において）。このようにナクシャトラを諸肢に配し、それぞれのマントラによって礼拝し—日々ジャパ（japa）とホーマ（homa）を修して—満月の夜にその行が成就したなら、ヴェーダに通暁したブラーフマナにギー（ghee）を布施すべきである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a dharmic pattern of observance: symbolic contemplation (mapping nakṣatras onto the body/cosmic form), disciplined daily worship with mantra-japa and homa, and concluding the vow with dāna—specifically, gifting ghee to a Veda-versed Brāhmaṇa—so that inner devotion is completed by outward generosity and support of sacred learning.
In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs the king on religious observances. Here he describes a specific ritual-visualization involving nakṣatras (Bharaṇī as the head, Ārdrā as the hair), followed by daily rites, and then prescribes a concluding full-moon donation of ghee to a learned Brāhmaṇa.