Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 383
उपवासफलात्मकविधिः — Upavāsa as Yajña-Equivalent Merit
Angiras Teaching
तत्क्षयादिह चागम्य माहात्म्यं प्रतिपद्यते । इतना ही नहीं
tatkṣayād iha cāgamya māhātmyaṃ pratipadyate |
彼处所积功德既尽，便还归此世，而得显达与尊荣之位。叙事所言，乃正行之果：其人光耀如炼金，登辉煌天车（vimāna），在梵天界（Brahmaloka）受敬而住满千年；及功德消耗，复来人间，获要职显位。此偈于义理上昭示：善业能致高妙天福，然终属有限；功德终将成熟为世间的声望与影响。
अंगियरा उवाच
Educational Q&A
Meritorious action produces exalted results—radiance, heavenly ascent, and honored residence in Brahmaloka—but those results are finite; when merit is exhausted, one returns and gains worldly eminence. The verse highlights both the power and the impermanence of karmic rewards.
Aṅgiras describes the posthumous फल (result) of a virtuous deed: the doer becomes brilliant, rides a vimāna, lives honored in Brahmaloka for a thousand years, and then, after the merit is spent, returns to this world and attains a significant, respected position.