Shloka 10

उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit

Angiras Teaching

Devanagari script

प्रश्रमेतं मया पृष्टो भगवानग्निसम्भव: । उपवासविधिं पुण्यमाचष्ट भरतर्षभ,भरतभूषण! जब मैंने यह प्रश्न पूछा, तब अग्निनन्दन भगवान्‌ अंगिराने मुझे उपवासकी पवित्र विधि इस प्रकार बतायी

Transliteration

praśrametaṁ mayā pṛṣṭo bhagavān agni-sambhavaḥ | upavāsa-vidhiṁ puṇyam ācaṣṭa bharatarṣabha ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Khi ta hỏi điều ấy, bậc hiền thánh đáng tôn kính, sinh từ Thần Lửa, đã giảng cho ta nghi thức trai giới (nhịn ăn) thanh tịnh, hỡi bậc hùng kiệt của dòng Bharata.”

Word by Word

• {'praśrametam': 'this question/inquiry (accusative

• ‘this matter asked’)', 'mayā': 'by me', 'pṛṣṭaḥ': 'asked, questioned', 'bhagavān': 'the venerable one

• revered sage', 'agni-sambhavaḥ': 'born of Agni (Fire)

• epithet of a sage', 'upavāsa': 'fasting

• religious abstinence', 'vidhi': 'rule, procedure, prescribed method', 'puṇyam': 'meritorious, sacred, purifying', 'ācaṣṭa': 'told, explained, declared', 'bharatarṣabha': 'O best of the Bharatas (honorific address)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Agni-sambhava (a sage described as ‘born of Fire’)
• Bharatarshabha (addressee: a Bharata prince, typically Yudhishthira)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That fasting (upavāsa), when performed according to prescribed rules (vidhi), is a sacred and merit-producing discipline; Bhishma frames it as authoritative instruction received from a revered sage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma, speaking to the Bharata prince, recalls that he once asked a question, and the venerable ‘Agni-born’ sage responded by teaching him the proper, purifying method of fasting.