Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 60
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
कार्तवीर्यानिरुद्धा भ्यां नहुषेण यतातिना । नृगेण विष्वगश्लेन तथैव शशबिन्दुना
kārtavīryāniruddhābhyāṁ nahuṣeṇa yayātinā | nṛgeṇa viśvagāśvena tathaiva śaśabindunā ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “(Kabilang sa gayong mga hari) sina Kārtavīrya at Aniruddha, Nahuṣa at Yayāti, Nṛga at Viśvagāśva, at gayundin si Śaśabindu. O anak ni Kuntī, ang mga pinunong umiwas sa karne sa buwan ng Āśvina sa dalawang kalahating-buwan—o kahit sa isa—ay waring naging kaisa ng Sarili ng lahat ng nilalang, at nakamit ang kaalaman sa kataas-taasan at kaugnay na katotohanan (parāvara).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that even a time-bound discipline—abstaining from meat during Āśvina for one or two fortnights—can cultivate compassion and self-restraint, leading to inner purification and ultimately to insight into the Self and the nature of reality (parāvara-tattva).
In his instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, Bhīṣma cites a list of exemplary kings (including Kārtavīrya, Nahuṣa, Yayāti, and others) who observed a meat-abstinence vow in Āśvina; he states that through this practice they attained elevated spiritual realization.