Shloka 16

उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit

Angiras Teaching

Devanagari script

यजिष्णु: पञ्चमीं षष्ठीं कुले भोजयते द्विजान्‌ | अष्टमीमथ कौरव्य कृष्णपक्षे चतुर्दशीम्‌

Transliteration

yajiṣṇuḥ pañcamīṃ ṣaṣṭhīṃ kule bhojayate dvijān | aṣṭamīm atha kauravya kṛṣṇapakṣe caturdaśīm ||

Translation

อังคิรสกล่าวว่า “ผู้มุ่งมั่นในยัญพิธีและหน้าที่ศักดิ์สิทธิ์ ย่อมเลี้ยงดูทวิชะ (พราหมณ์) ตามจารีตตระกูลในวันขึ้นห้าและขึ้นหกค่ำ; และโอ เชื้อสายกุรุ เช่นเดียวกันในวันขึ้นแปดค่ำ และในวันแรมสิบสี่ค่ำแห่งกฤษณปักษ์”

Word by Word

यजिष्णुःone who is devoted to sacrifice / a sacrificer

पञ्चमीम्the fifth (day)

षष्ठीम्the sixth (day)

कुलेin (his) family/lineage

भोजयतेfeeds / causes to eat / entertains with food

द्विजान्Brahmins (lit. twice-born)

अष्टमीम्the eighth (day)

अथthen / moreover

कौरव्यO descendant of Kuru

कृष्णपक्षेin the dark fortnight (waning half of the month)

चतुर्दशीम्the fourteenth (day)

Speaker

अंगियरा उवाच

Characters & Entities

Aṅgiras

Kauravya (Kuru-line addressee)

dvija (Brahmins/twice-born)

kṛṣṇapakṣa (dark fortnight)

pañcamī

Ṣ

ṣaṣṭhī

aṣṭamī

caturdaśī

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that dharma is upheld through disciplined generosity: feeding learned Brahmins on specific lunar days (tithis) as part of family observance. Regular, rule-governed giving and hospitality are presented as a concrete practice of righteousness.

What is happening in the narrative?

The sage Aṅgiras is instructing a Kuru-descended listener about prescribed days for hosting and feeding Brahmins—fifth, sixth, eighth, and the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight—within the broader Anuśāsana Parva discourse on duties, gifts, and religious observances.