Shloka 29
अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता
Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality
अथर्वशिरसो ध्येता ब्रह्मचारी यतव्रत: । सत्यवादी धर्मशील: स्वकर्मनिरतश्न॒ सः
atharvaśiraso dhyetā brahmacārī yatavrataḥ | satyavādī dharmaśīlaḥ svakarmanirataś ca saḥ |
بھیشم نے کہا—جو اتھروَشِرَس کا دھیان کرنے والا ہو، برہمچاری ہو، ضبط کے ساتھ ورت نبھاتا ہو، سچ بولتا ہو، دھرم پر قائم ہو، اور اپنے مقررہ فرائض میں مشغول رہے—وہ مرد پंکتی-پاون ہے۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that spiritual study and contemplation (Atharvaśiras), combined with disciplined vows, truthfulness, righteous character, and steady commitment to one’s own duties (svakarma), makes a person morally elevating—so virtuous that he is said to purify and uplift his lineage/community.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he identifies the qualities of an exemplary Vedic practitioner—one devoted to Atharvanic contemplation, brahmacarya, truth, and svadharma—and describes such a person as ‘panktīpāvana,’ a sanctifier of the family line.