Shloka 40
सायंप्रातर्मनुष्पयाणामशन देवनिर्मितम् । नान्तरा भोजन दृष्टमुपवासविधिहिं स:
sāyaṃprātar manuṣyāṇām aśanaṃ devanirmitam | nāntarā bhojanaṃ dṛṣṭam upavāsavidhir hi saḥ |
भीष्म उवाच—मनुष्याणां देवैः प्रातःसायं द्विकालमेव भोजनं विधाय कृतम्। मध्ये भोजनविधिर्न दृश्यते। अस्य नियमस्य पालनात् उपवासफलमेव लभ्यते। एवं च संयमी गृहस्थः सर्वेषामतिथीनां दासानां स्वजनानां शरणागतानां च रक्षकः सत्कारकर्ता च भवेत्—यथा स्वसंयमः लोकधर्मे प्रतिष्ठां गच्छेत्।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Maintain disciplined eating—only morning and evening meals, avoiding food in between—so that restraint itself yields the merit associated with fasting; this personal discipline is aligned with the broader dharma of supporting and welcoming others (guests, dependents, kin, and refugees).
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anushasana Parva), he lays down a normative rule of conduct for householders: regulated meal-times as divinely ordained, and the ethical expectation that one’s life be oriented toward protection and hospitality for those connected to or dependent on the householder.