Shloka 1366
मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity
महर्षित्वमथासाद्य सशरीरगतिर्भवेत् । दस वर्षोतक एक-एक मास उपवास करके एकतीसवें दिन भोजन करनेवाला पुरुष उत्तम स्वर्ग लोकको जाता है। वह महर्षि पदको प्राप्त होकर सशरीर दिव्यलोककी यात्रा करता है
maharṣitvam athāsādya saśarīragatir bhavet | daśa varṣotaka eka-eka māsa upavāsa kṛtvā ekatriṃśe dine bhojanaṃ kurvan puruṣa uttamaṃ svargalokaṃ gacchati | sa maharṣipadaṃ prāpya saśarīraṃ divyalokaṃ yātrāṃ karoti |
Disse Bhishma: Tendo alcançado a condição de grande rishi, alguém pode até prosseguir com o próprio corpo. O homem que, por dez anos, em cada mês pratica o jejum e só come no trigésimo primeiro dia, alcança o mais alto mundo celeste. Obtendo o grau de grande sábio, ele viaja ao reino divino com o corpo transfigurado.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sustained austerity—specifically long-term, disciplined fasting with strict regulation of eating—is presented as a powerful dharmic practice that yields extraordinary spiritual merit, culminating in attainment of the highest heaven and even a ‘bodily’ passage to a divine realm.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he describes the फल (result) of a particular vrata: a person who fasts each month and eats only on the thirty-first day, continuing this for ten years, gains the status of a great rishi and reaches Svarga/Divyaloka, portrayed as an exalted post-mortem (or transfigured) destination.