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 ||
ビーシュマは言った。「おおパールタよ。カウムダの季節において、二つの半月(あるいは一つの半月)にわたり肉食を断った王たちは、あたかも一切衆生のアートマンに安住したかのようであった。その節制によって、彼らは実在の高下の原理(パラーヴァラ)を悟ったのだ。」
भीष्म उवाच
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.