Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 24

Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)

Devanagari script

जलाहारो वायुभक्ष: पर्णाहारश्न सो5भवत्‌

Transliteration

jalāhāro vāyubhakṣaḥ parṇāhāraś ca so 'bhavat

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: He adopted severe austerities—living at times only on water, at times as though sustained by air alone, and at times on fallen leaves—thus embracing a life of strict self-restraint.

Word by Word

• जलाहारः: one whose food is water (water-drinker)
• जलाहारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जलाहार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वायुभक्षः: one who feeds on air
• वायुभक्षः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वायुभक्ष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पर्णाहारः: one whose food is leaves
• पर्णाहारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर्णाहार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अभवत्: became / was
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), Third, Singular

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights tapas (austerity) and disciplined restraint: by reducing dependence on food to water, then to mere breath, and then to leaves, one embodies rigorous self-control—often presented in the epic as a means to purify intention and strengthen resolve in the pursuit of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana reports that a certain person (contextually identified in surrounding verses) undertakes escalating forms of fasting and ascetic living—water-only, air-only, and leaf-only—signaling a turn toward severe penance or renunciant discipline within the unfolding events of Śalya Parva.