Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 3
फलमूलकृताहारस्ततो वर्षशतत्रयम् । ध्यायमानः परं ब्रह्म स्थितो ब्राह्मणसत्तमाः । शीर्णपर्णाशनः पश्चात्तावत्कालं व्यवस्थितः
phalamūlakṛtāhārastato varṣaśatatrayam | dhyāyamānaḥ paraṃ brahma sthito brāhmaṇasattamāḥ | śīrṇaparṇāśanaḥ paścāttāvatkālaṃ vyavasthitaḥ
त्यानंतर फल-मूळांचा आहार करून तो तीनशे वर्षे राहिला; परब्रह्माचे ध्यान करीत तो ब्राह्मणश्रेष्ठ स्थिर होता. पुढे गळून वाळलेल्या पानांचे भक्षण करून तितक्याच काळ तपात स्थित राहिला.
Sūta (contextual continuation)
Tirtha: Himavat tapas-bhūmi (generic)
Type: peak
Listener: Śaunaka and sages (implied)
Scene: An emaciated yet radiant ascetic seated in padmāsana beneath a Himalayan tree near a hermitage, with a small pile of fruits/roots in earlier phase and only dry leaves later; aura of stillness as he contemplates Parabrahman.
FAQs
Austerity is not merely bodily hardship; it is joined to contemplation of Brahman, making renunciation purposeful and liberating.
The verse continues the Himavat tapas setting while remaining within the Hāṭakeśvara-kṣetra māhātmya narrative frame.
Dietary restraints (āhāra-niyama) are described—subsisting on fruits/roots and later on dried leaves.