Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 59
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
नाभागेनाम्बरीषेण गयेन च महात्मना । आयुनाथानरण्येन दिलीपरघुपूरुभि:
nābhāgenāmbarīṣeṇa gayena ca mahātmanā | āyunāthānaraṇyena dilīparaghupūrubhiḥ |
ਨਾਭਾਗ, ਅੰਬਰੀਸ਼, ਮਹਾਤਮਾ ਗਯ, ਆਯੁ, ਅਨਰਣ੍ਯ, ਦਿਲੀਪ, ਰਘੁ ਅਤੇ ਪੂਰੁ— ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਰਾਜਿਆਂ ਨੇ (ਆਸ਼ਵਿਨ ਮਹੀਨੇ ਦੇ ਪੱਖਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ) ਮਾਸ-ਭੋਜਨ ਦਾ ਤਿਆਗ ਕੀਤਾ ਸੀ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that disciplined restraint—here, abstaining from meat during a sacred period—purifies conduct and mind, leading to expanded compassion toward all beings and culminating in higher spiritual insight (knowledge of parāvara-tattva).
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, he cites exemplary kings who observed a specific vow in the month of Āśvina. Their ethical self-restraint is presented as the cause of profound spiritual attainment and universal identification with the Self of all beings.