Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 21
Adhyāya 57: Tapas–Dāna Phala
On the Fruits of Austerity and Giving
ततोडन्यस्मिन् वनोद्देशे पुनरेव ददर्श तम् | कौश्यां बृस्यां समासीनं जपमानं महाव्रतम्
tato 'nyasmin vanoddeśe punar eva dadarśa tam | kauśyāṁ bṛsyāṁ samāsīnaṁ japamānaṁ mahāvratam ||
ਫਿਰ ਜੰਗਲ ਦੇ ਹੋਰ ਇਕ ਹਿੱਸੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਰਾਜੇ ਨੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਮੁੜ ਵੇਖਿਆ। ਉਸ ਵੇਲੇ ਮਹਾਵ੍ਰਤਧਾਰੀ ਮਹਰਿਸ਼ੀ ਕੁਸ਼ਾ-ਆਸਨ ਉੱਤੇ ਬੈਠੇ ਮੰਤ੍ਰ-ਜਪ ਵਿੱਚ ਲੀਨ ਸਨ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical power of steadfast vows and disciplined spiritual practice: an ascetic’s authority and purity arise from consistent self-restraint (vrata) and devotion expressed through japa.
Bhīṣma narrates that the king encounters the same person again in another part of the forest, finding him seated on a kuśa-grass mat and engaged in japa, marked as a great-vowed ascetic.