Shloka 11
असंतोषादिदोष-निरूपणम्
On the Faults of Discontent and the Discipline of Detachment
पत्राहारैरश्मकुट्टैदन्तोलूखलिकैस्तथा । अब्भक्षेवायुभक्षैश्न तैरयं नरको जित:
patrāhārair aśmakuṭṭair dantolūkhalikais tathā | abbhakṣair vāyubhakṣaiś ca tair ayaṃ narako jitaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: Those ascetics who live on leaves, who subsist on food ground upon stone, who chew with their teeth alone without relying on mill-ground or mortar-pounded fare, and those who live only on water—or even on air—by such men this ‘hell’ is conquered.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Rigorous self-restraint (tapas) is portrayed as a force that overcomes ‘naraka’—whether understood as literal hell or as the hellish consequences of sin and uncontrolled desire—emphasizing ethical purification through disciplined living.
In the Śānti Parva’s dharma-discourse setting, Yudhiṣṭhira cites extreme ascetic practices (leaf-diet, stone-ground fare, chewing without processed food, living on water or air) to illustrate how powerful austerity is considered in conquering suffering and moral downfall.