Shloka 55
उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit
Angiras Teaching
आर्तों वा व्याधितो वापि गच्छेदनशनं तु यः
ārto vā vyādhito vāpi gacched anaśanaṃ tu yaḥ
اگر کوئی شخص رنجیدہ ہو یا بیماری میں مبتلا ہو، پھر بھی جو انشن اختیار کرنے کو جائے…
अंगियरा उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse begins a rule-of-thumb about anaśana (fasting): it frames fasting in relation to a person’s condition—especially distress or illness—implying that the ethical evaluation of austerity depends on the practitioner’s state and capacity, not merely on the act itself.
Aṅgiras is speaking in a didactic context within Anuśāsana Parva, introducing a case (“whoever, though distressed or sick, undertakes fasting…”) that is completed by the subsequent verse(s) to state the resulting merit, fault, or proper guideline.