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 ||
भीष्म म्हणाले—नराधिप! भरणी हे शिर आणि आर्द्रा हे (चंद्राचे) केश असे जाणावे. अशा रीतीने नक्षत्रांची अंगांमध्ये स्थापना करून त्यांच्या-त्यांच्या मंत्रांनी पूजा करीत दररोज जप-होम इत्यादी करावे. पौर्णिमेला व्रत समाप्त झाल्यावर वेदपारंगत ब्राह्मणाला घृत दान करावे.
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.