Shloka 117
मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity
योडष्टाविंशे तु दिवसे प्राश्नीयादेकभोजनम्,जो बारह महीनोंतक सदा अपने मन और इन्द्रियोंको काबूमें रखकर अट्ठाईसवें दिन एक बार भोजन करता है, वह देवर्षियोंको प्राप्त होनेवाले महान् फलका उपभोग करता है
yo ’ṣṭāviṁśe tu divase prāśnīyād ekabhojanam | yo dvādaśa māsān tāvat sadā mana indriyāṇi ca saṁyamya ’ṣṭāviṁśe dine ekavāraṁ bhuṅkte sa devarṣīṇāṁ prāpyam mahāphalaṁ bhuṅkte |
Sinabi ni Bhishma: Ang sinumang kumakain lamang nang minsan sa ika-dalawampu’t walong araw—na sa loob ng labindalawang buwan ay patuloy na pinipigil ang isip at mga pandama—ay nagtatamasa ng dakilang bunga na sinasabing nakakamit ng mga banal na rishi sa langit.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sustained restraint of mind and senses, expressed through a regulated vow of eating only once on the twenty-eighth day, is presented as a powerful discipline that yields exalted spiritual merit comparable to that associated with divine seers.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma and vows, he describes a specific ascetic observance: for a full year the practitioner maintains self-control and takes food only once on the twenty-eighth day, thereby attaining a great promised reward.