Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 15
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
अष्टमीयज्ञपरता चातुर्मास्यनिषेवणम् । पौर्णमासादयो यज्ञा नित्ययज्ञस्तथैव च
aṣṭamīyajñaparatā cāturmāsyaniṣevaṇam | paurṇamāsādayo yajñā nityayajñas tathaiva ca ||
大天说道：“对于林居期行者（vānaprastha），应守此等修持：专志于阿湿多弥祭（Aṣṭamī，即月第八日所行的阿湿多迦 Aṣṭakā 之礼），奉行四月季誓（Cāturmāsya），并常行以满月祭（Paurṇamāsa）等为首的诸供献，兼修每日必行之祭。如此，安住于法（dharma）的坚定与有节有度的敬拜，便成为林居者生活的伦理根基。”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines vānaprastha-dharma as disciplined continuity in sacred obligations: observing periodic vows (Cāturmāsya), performing calendrical rites (like Paurṇamāsa), and maintaining daily worship/sacrifice (nitya-yajña). Ethical life here is framed as steadiness, restraint, and fidelity to prescribed duty.
Maheśvara is instructing about the duties of the forest-dweller stage of life. Rather than describing an external event, the passage lists the ritual and vow-based practices that constitute the vānaprastha’s regulated religious routine.