Shloka 112
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
फलमूलाशनं वायुराप: शैवलभक्षणम् | ऋषीणां नियमा होते यैर्जयन्त्यजितां गतिम्
phalamūlāśanaṃ vāyur āpaḥ śaivalabhakṣaṇam | ṛṣīṇāṃ niyamā hote yair jayanty ajitāṃ gatim ||
聖なるマヘーシュヴァラは言った。「果実と根を食として生き、風を糧として身を支え、水のみを飲み、さらには水草さえ口にする——これらはリシたちが守る戒めである。かかる制御と苦行によって、ふだんは征し難い生存の流れをも克服し、自己統御と精進により険しい道を制するのだ。」
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that rigorous self-restraint and austere observances (niyamas)—especially disciplined control of food and bodily needs—are powerful means by which sages overcome the hardest spiritual obstacles and master the difficult path of existence.
Maheśvara is describing the kinds of ascetic practices followed by ṛṣis—living on fruits and roots, subsisting on air, taking only water, or eating algae—as exemplary disciplines that enable spiritual conquest of an otherwise unconquerable 'gati' (course/goal).