Shloka 17
तीर्थयात्रा: सागरतीर्थ-शूर्पारक-प्रभासगमनम्
Pilgrimage to Sea Tīrthas, Śūrpāraka, and Prabhāsa
स द्वादशाहं जलवायुभक्ष: कुर्वन् क्षपाह:सु तदाभिषेकम् । समन्ततोःग्नीनुपदीपयित्वा तेपे तपो धर्मभूतां वरिष्ठ:,धर्मात्माओंमें श्रेष्ठ युधिष्ठिर वहाँ बारह दिनोंतक केवल जल और वायु पीकर रहते हुए दिनमें और रातमें भी स्नान करते तथा अपने चारों ओर आग जलाकर तपस्यामें लगे रहते थे
sa dvādaśāhaṁ jalavāyubhakṣaḥ kurvan kṣapāhaḥsu tadābhiṣekam | samantato 'gnīn upadīpayitvā tepe tapo dharmabhūtāṁ variṣṭhaḥ ||
For twelve days, the foremost among the righteous—Yudhiṣṭhira—lived on nothing but water and air. During both day and night he repeatedly performed ritual bathing, and after kindling fires all around himself, he undertook austere penance grounded in dharma—an act of self-discipline meant to purify intention and uphold ethical order amid hardship.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights tapas as an ethical discipline: restraint of the body and purification through ritual are portrayed as supports for dharma. Yudhiṣṭhira’s austerity models inner governance—self-control and steadfastness—as prerequisites for righteous action, especially in adversity.
Vaiśampāyana describes Yudhiṣṭhira undertaking a twelve-day ascetic observance: subsisting only on water and air, bathing day and night, and lighting fires around himself while performing dharma-centered penance.