Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 24
नियमैश्चोप वासैश्च शोषयन्देहमात्मनः । जलाहारा वायुभक्षाः पर्णाहाराश्च तापसाः । तथा च स्थंडिलशया ये चान्ये नियताः पृथक्
niyamaiścopa vāsaiśca śoṣayandehamātmanaḥ | jalāhārā vāyubhakṣāḥ parṇāhārāśca tāpasāḥ | tathā ca sthaṃḍilaśayā ye cānye niyatāḥ pṛthak
Par des observances et des jeûnes, les ascètes dessèchent leur propre corps : les uns ne vivent que d’eau, les autres ‘se nourrissent d’air’, d’autres de feuilles ; de même ceux qui dorment sur la terre nue, et d’autres encore qui suivent, chacun à sa manière, des disciplines variées.
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (as tapas-bhūmi)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Sage/audience within māhātmya (implied)
Scene: A tableau of ascetics practicing different austerities: one subsisting on water, one in prāṇāyāma-like ‘air-feeding,’ one eating leaves, one sleeping on bare ground (sthaṇḍila-śayyā), others in distinct disciplines; set near a forested sacred landscape.
FAQs
Purāṇic dharma recognizes many graded forms of tapas—discipline and restraint are central, even when practiced differently.
The broader Prabhāsa/Sarasvatī tīrtha setting of this chapter, where such disciplines are praised as spiritually potent.
Observing niyamas and upavāsa, including austere diets and sleeping on the ground, as recognized forms of spiritual discipline.