Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 60
Adhyāya 119: Vyāsa–Kīṭa-saṃvāda
Tapas-bala and karmic ascent across yoni
कार्तवीर्यानिरुद्धा भ्यां नहुषेण यतातिना । नृगेण विष्वगश्लेन तथैव शशबिन्दुना
kārtavīryāniruddhābhyāṁ nahuṣeṇa yayātinā | nṛgeṇa viśvagāśvena tathaiva śaśabindunā ||
毗湿摩说道：“（此类国王之中）有迦尔塔毗利耶（Kārtavīrya）与阿尼卢陀（Aniruddha），那胡沙（Nahuṣa）与耶耶提（Yayāti），尼利伽（Nṛga）与毗湿伽阿湿婆（Viśvagāśva），以及舍舍宾度（Śaśabindu）。噢，昆蒂之子啊，那些在阿湿毗那月的两半月——或仅一半月——戒绝肉食的君王，仿佛与一切众生之我合一，并得知至上与相对之实相（parāvara）。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that even a time-bound discipline—abstaining from meat during Āśvina for one or two fortnights—can cultivate compassion and self-restraint, leading to inner purification and ultimately to insight into the Self and the nature of reality (parāvara-tattva).
In his instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma, Bhīṣma cites a list of exemplary kings (including Kārtavīrya, Nahuṣa, Yayāti, and others) who observed a meat-abstinence vow in Āśvina; he states that through this practice they attained elevated spiritual realization.