Shloka 66
मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity
जो बारह महीनेतक प्रति चौदहवें दिन हविष्यान्न भोजन करता है, वह महामेध यज्ञका फल पाता है ।।
Bhīṣma uvāca: yo dvādaśa māsān prati caturdaśe dine haviṣyānna-bhojanaṁ karoti, sa mahāmedha-yajñasya phalaṁ prāpnoti. anirdeśya-vayo-rūpā devakanyāḥ su-alaṅkṛtāḥ, mṛṣṭa-taptāṅgada-dharā vimānaiḥ upayānti tam.
भीष्म उवाच—यः द्वादशमासान् प्रति चतुर्दश्यां हविष्यान्नं भुङ्क्ते, स महा-मेधयज्ञस्य फलं प्राप्नोति। अनिर्देश्यवयोरूपा देवकन्याः स्वलङ्कृताः, मृष्टतप्ताङ्गदधराः, विमानैरुपयान्ति तं सेवितुम्॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sustained self-restraint through a regulated vow-diet (haviṣyānna on each fourteenth day for a year) is presented as dharmically potent, yielding merit comparable to a major sacrifice; inner discipline can substitute for costly ritual.
Bhishma describes the spiritual ‘fruit’ of a specific annual observance: the practitioner gains the merit of the Mahāmedha sacrifice and is honored in heaven, symbolized by celestial maidens arriving in vimānas to attend him.