Skanda Purana — Kashi Khanda, Shloka 20
समीराभ्यवहर्तासीद्बहुदिष्टं सदिष्टवान् । पपौ स तु पिपासुः सन्कुशाग्रजलविप्रुषः
samīrābhyavahartāsīdbahudiṣṭaṃ sadiṣṭavān | papau sa tu pipāsuḥ sankuśāgrajalavipruṣaḥ
He lived as one who “fed upon the wind,” subsisting on what was scarcely allotted. And when parched with thirst, he drank only droplets of water clinging to the tips of kuśa grass.
Skanda
Tirtha: Kāśī (context of Yama’s extreme saṃyama)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Viśālākṣī
Scene: An emaciated yet radiant ascetic Yama sits or stands calmly; swirling air suggests ‘wind-subsistence’. Nearby, kuśa grass bends with tiny water droplets, which he touches to his lips with restraint.
FAQs
Aparigraha (non-possessiveness) and radical restraint purify intention and intensify spiritual aspiration.
The chapter’s setting remains the Kāśī sacred field (Ānandavana/Dharmapīṭha context), though this verse focuses on tapas methods.
Ascetic subsistence practices are described: samīrāhāra (air-subsistence) and drinking only kuśa-tip droplets.