Shloka 32
मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity
दिवसे सप्तमे यस्तु प्राश्नीयादेकभोजनम्
divase saptame yas tu prāśnīyād ekabhojanam | yo dvādaśa māsān prati saptame dine ekakālaṁ bhuṅkte, pratidinam agnau āhutiṁ dadāti, vāṇīṁ saṁyamya brahmacaryaṁ carati, puṣpamālā-candana-madhu-māṁsāni ca sadā tyajati, sa marudgaṇaiḥ saha indraloke gacchati ||
भीष्म म्हणाले—जो पुरुष बारा महिने प्रत्येक सातव्या दिवशी एकदाच भोजन करतो, दररोज पवित्र अग्नीत आहुती देतो, वाणीचा संयम ठेवतो व ब्रह्मचर्य पाळतो; आणि पुष्पमाळा, चंदन, मधु व मांस यांचा कायमचा त्याग करतो—तो मरुद्गणांसह इंद्रलोकास प्राप्त होतो.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sustained austerity joined with purity—regulated eating, daily fire-offerings, restraint of speech, and brahmacarya—along with renunciation of sensual enjoyments, is presented as a dharmic discipline that yields high spiritual merit and leads to Indra’s heaven among the Maruts.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma through vows and observances. Here he describes a specific year-long vrata: eating once on every seventh day, performing daily āhutis, practicing verbal restraint and brahmacarya, and giving up certain pleasures; he then states the फल (result)—attainment of Indraloka with the Maruts.