What Constant Fasting and Brahmacharya Really Mean

Verse 1 (13.140.1)

द्विजातयो व्रतोपेता हविस्ते यदि भुञ्जते । अन्नं ब्राह्मणकामाय कथमेतत्पितामह ॥

dvijātayo vratopetā haviste yadi bhuñjate | annaṃ brāhmaṇakāmāya kathametatpitāmaha

Grandfather, if twice-born men who keep their vows eat your oblation food, the food given out of a wish to honour the brahmins, how is that to be understood?

Verse 2 (13.140.2)

अवेदोक्तव्रताश्चैव भुञ्जानाः कामकारणे । वेदोक्तेषु तु भुञ्जाना व्रतलुप्ता युधिष्ठिर ॥

avedoktavratāścaiva bhuñjānāḥ kāmakāraṇe | vedokteṣu tu bhuñjānā vrataluptā yudhiṣṭhira

Those whose vows are not prescribed by the Veda and who eat as their desire prompts, and those who eat while bound by vows the Veda prescribes, have broken their vows, Yudhishthira.

Verse 3 (13.140.3)

यदिदं तप इत्याहुरुपवासं पृथग्जनाः । तपः स्यादेतदेवेह तपोऽन्यद्वाऽपि किं भवेत् ॥

yadidaṃ tapa ityāhurupavāsaṃ pṛthagjanāḥ | tapaḥ syādetadeveha tapo'nyadvā'pi kiṃ bhavet

What ordinary people call austerity, namely fasting: is that itself austerity here, or what else could austerity be?

Verse 4 (13.140.4)

मासार्धमासोपवासाद्यत्तपो मन्यते जनः । आत्मतन्त्रोपघाती यो न तपस्वी न धर्मवित् ॥

māsārdhamāsopavāsādyattapo manyate janaḥ | ātmatantropaghātī yo na tapasvī na dharmavit

The austerity that people imagine in fasting for a fortnight or a month at a time: whoever thereby harms what his own self depends on is neither an ascetic nor a knower of dharma.

Verse 5 (13.140.5)

त्यागस्य चापि सम्पत्तिः शिष्यते तप उत्तमम् । सदोपवासी च भवेद्ब्रह्मचारी तथैव च ॥

tyāgasya cāpi sampattiḥ śiṣyate tapa uttamam | sadopavāsī ca bhavedbrahmacārī tathaiva ca

What remains as the highest austerity is the perfection of renunciation. A man should be a constant faster, and likewise a brahmachari.

Verse 6 (13.140.6)

मुनिश्च स्यात्सदा विप्रो देवांश्चैव सदा यजेत् । कुटुम्बिको धर्मकामः सदाऽस्वप्नश्च मानवः ॥

muniśca syātsadā vipro devāṃścaiva sadā yajet | kuṭumbiko dharmakāmaḥ sadā'svapnaśca mānavaḥ

A brahmin should always be a muni and should always worship the gods. A householder who desires dharma should be ever sleepless.

Verse 7 (13.140.7)

अमृताशी सदा च स्यात्पवित्रं च सदा पठेत् । ऋतवादी सदा च स्यान्नियतश्च सदा भवेत् ॥

amṛtāśī sadā ca syātpavitraṃ ca sadā paṭhet | ṛtavādī sadā ca syānniyataśca sadā bhavet

He should always be an eater of nectar, always recite the purifying texts, always speak the truth, and always be self-controlled.

Verse 8 (13.140.8)

विघसाशी कथं च स्यात्सदा चैवातिथिप्रियः । अमृताशी सदा च स्यात्पवित्री च सदा भवेत् ॥

vighasāśī kathaṃ ca syātsadā caivātithipriyaḥ | amṛtāśī sadā ca syātpavitrī ca sadā bhavet

How should one be an eater of remnants, and always fond of guests? He should always be an eater of nectar, and always be pure.

Note on the text: The first line is CE 13.93.8a (13,093.008a); the second line differs from CE 13.93.8c (which reads अमांसाशी for अमृताशी) and repeats the wording of verse 7 in the vulgate; kept as a recension variant.

Verse 9 (13.140.9)

कथं सदोपवासी स्याद्ब्रह्मचारी च पार्थिव । विघसाशी कथं च स्यात्कथं चैवातिथिप्रियः ॥

kathaṃ sadopavāsī syādbrahmacārī ca pārthiva | vighasāśī kathaṃ ca syātkathaṃ caivātithipriyaḥ

How, O king, does one become a constant faster and a brahmachari? How does one become an eater of remnants, and how one who is fond of guests?

Verse 10 (13.140.10)

अन्तरा सायमाशं च प्रातराशं च यो नरः । सदोपवासी भवति यो न भुङ्क्तेऽन्तरा पुनः ॥

antarā sāyamāśaṃ ca prātarāśaṃ ca yo naraḥ | sadopavāsī bhavati yo na bhuṅkte'ntarā punaḥ

A man who eats nothing between his evening meal and his morning meal, and does not eat again in between, is a constant faster.

Verse 11 (13.140.11)

भार्या गच्छन्ब्रह्मचारी ऋतौ भवति चैव ह । ऋतवादी सदा च स्याद्दानशीलस्तु मानवः ॥

bhāryā gacchanbrahmacārī ṛtau bhavati caiva ha | ṛtavādī sadā ca syāddānaśīlastu mānavaḥ

One who goes to his wife only in her season is a brahmachari. A man given to charity should always speak the truth.

Verse 12 (13.140.12)

अभक्षयन्वृथा मांसममांसाशी भवत्युत । दानं ददत्पवित्री स्यादस्वप्नश्च दिवाऽस्वपन् ॥

abhakṣayanvṛthā māṃsamamāṃsāśī bhavatyuta | dānaṃ dadatpavitrī syādasvapnaśca divā'svapan

One who does not eat meat in vain becomes a non-eater of meat; one who gives gifts is pure; and one who does not sleep by day is sleepless.

Verse 13 (13.140.13)

भृत्यातिथिषु यो भुङ्क्ते भुक्तवत्सु नरः सदा । अमृतं केवलं भुङ्क्ते इति विद्धि युधिष्ठिर ॥

bhṛtyātithiṣu yo bhuṅkte bhuktavatsu naraḥ sadā | amṛtaṃ kevalaṃ bhuṅkte iti viddhi yudhiṣṭhira

The man who always eats after his dependants and guests have eaten eats nothing but nectar; know this, Yudhishthira.

Verse 14 (13.140.14)

अभुक्तवत्सु नाश्नाति ब्राह्मणेषु तु यो नरः । अभोजनेन तेनास्य जितः स्वर्गो भवत्युत ॥

abhuktavatsu nāśnāti brāhmaṇeṣu tu yo naraḥ | abhojanena tenāsya jitaḥ svargo bhavatyuta

The man who does not eat while brahmins have not yet eaten gains heaven through that very not eating.

Verse 15 (13.140.15)

देवेभ्यश्च पितृभ्यश्च संश्रितेभ्यस्तथैव च । अवशिष्टानि यो भुङ्क्ते तमाहुर्विघसाशिनम् ॥

devebhyaśca pitṛbhyaśca saṃśritebhyastathaiva ca | avaśiṣṭāni yo bhuṅkte tamāhurvighasāśinam

He who eats what is left over after the gods, the ancestors and his dependants have been served is called an eater of remnants (vighasashin).

Verse 16 (13.140.16)

तेषां लोका ह्यपर्यन्ताः सदने ब्रह्मणः स्मृताः । उपस्थिता ह्यप्सरसो गन्धर्वैश्च जनाधिप ॥

teṣāṃ lokā hyaparyantāḥ sadane brahmaṇaḥ smṛtāḥ | upasthitā hyapsaraso gandharvaiśca janādhipa

The worlds of such men are boundless, said to lie in the abode of Brahma; apsarases and gandharvas attend them, O ruler of men.

Verse 17 (13.140.17)

देवतातिथिभिः सार्धं पितृभिश्चोपभुञ्जते । रमन्ते पुत्रपौत्रैश्च तेषां गतिरनुत्तमा ॥

devatātithibhiḥ sārdhaṃ pitṛbhiścopabhuñjate | ramante putrapautraiśca teṣāṃ gatiranuttamā

They enjoy their food together with the gods, the guests and the ancestors, and they rejoice with their sons and grandsons; theirs is the highest destination.