Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 31
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
उपवास: सदा धर्मो ब्राह्मणस्य न संशय: । स हि धर्मार्थसम्पन्नो ब्रह्म भूयाय कल्पते
upavāsaḥ sadā dharmo brāhmaṇasya na saṁśayaḥ | sa hi dharmārthasampanno brahma bhūyāya kalpate ||
ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਲਈ ਉਪਵਾਸ—ਅਰਥਾਤ ਇੰਦ੍ਰੀਆਂ ਦੇ ਸੰਯਮ ਦਾ ਅਨੁਸ਼ਾਸਨ—ਸਦਾ ਧਰਮ ਹੈ; ਇਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਕੋਈ ਸੰਦੇਹ ਨਹੀਂ। ਧਰਮ ਅਤੇ ਅਰਥ ਨਾਲ ਸੰਪੰਨ ਉਹ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਬ੍ਰਹਮ-ਅਵਸਥਾ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਕਰਨ ਯੋਗ ਹੋ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Upavāsa—taken not merely as abstaining from food but as sustained restraint of the senses—is presented as a constant dharma for a brāhmaṇa. When joined with dharma and artha in a righteous way of life, it qualifies one for Brahman-attainment.
Śrī Maheśvara is instructing about the ethical and spiritual discipline appropriate to a brāhmaṇa, emphasizing continual self-restraint as a religious duty and linking such disciplined living to eligibility for realizing Brahman.