Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 473
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
देहं वानशने त्यक्त्वा स स्वर्ग समुपाश्ुते । जो केवल अपने ही सहारे जीवन-यापन करता हुआ नियमपूर्वक रहता है और नियमित भोजन करता है अथवा अनशन व्रतका आश्रय ले शरीरको त्याग देता है, वह स्वर्गका सुख भोगता है
dehaṁ vānaśane tyaktvā sa svargaṁ samupāśnute |
Maheśvara nói: “Người nào sống tự lực một cách có kỷ luật, giữ các điều chế định và ăn uống điều độ; hoặc người nào—đã nương theo lời nguyện tuyệt thực—xả bỏ thân này bằng khổ hạnh, thì sẽ đạt đến cõi trời và hưởng phúc lạc nơi ấy.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Disciplined living—marked by restraint, regulated sustenance, and steadfast observance of vows—produces meritorious results; even the extreme austerity of fasting unto death (when undertaken as a vrata) is presented here as leading to heavenly attainment.
Śrī Maheśvara is instructing about the fruits of ascetic discipline. He states that a person who lives by strict rules and moderation, or who gives up the body through the vow of fasting, reaches svarga and enjoys its rewards.