Shloka 19

Devanagari script

उपवासं च दीक्षायामभिषेकं च पार्थिव । कृत्वा द्वादश वर्षाणि वीरस्थानाद्‌ विशिष्यते,पृथ्वीनाथ! जो पुरुष बारह वर्षोतकके लिये व्रतकी दीक्षा लेकर अन्नका त्याग करता और तीर्थोमें स्नान करता रहता है, उसे रणभूमिमें प्राण त्यागनेवाले वीरसे भी बढ़कर उत्तम लोककी प्राप्ति होती है

Transliteration

upavāsaṃ ca dīkṣāyām abhiṣekaṃ ca pārthiva | kṛtvā dvādaśa varṣāṇi vīrasthānād viśiṣyate ||

Translation

ข้าแต่พระราชา ผู้รับทิศาแห่งพรต ดำรงตนด้วยอุปวาส และประกอบการอาบน้ำศักดิ์สิทธิ์ (อภิษेक-สนาน) ตลอดสิบสองปี ย่อมได้ภพอันสูงยิ่งกว่าแม้แต่วีรชนผู้สละชีพในสมรภูมิ

Word by Word

उपवासम्fasting

चand

दीक्षायाम्in (the state of) initiation/vow-observance

अभिषेकम्ritual bathing/anointing

चand

पार्थिवO king

कृत्वाhaving done/observed

द्वादशtwelve

वर्षाणिyears

वीरस्थानात्from the hero's state/place (i.e., from the merit of dying as a hero)

विशिष्यतेis superior/excels

पृथ्वीनाथO lord of the earth

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

King (pārthiva; addressed as ruler of the earth)

vīra (warrior)

vīrasthāna (heroic state/realm)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma teaches that sustained ascetic discipline—formal vow (dīkṣā), fasting (upavāsa), and repeated sacred ablutions (abhiṣeka) maintained for twelve years—can yield spiritual merit surpassing even the celebrated merit of dying heroically in battle (vīrasthāna).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma addresses the king and compares two paths to exalted posthumous reward: heroic death in war versus long-term religious observance. He elevates the latter as leading to a superior state.