Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 11
Pratyakṣa–Āgama–Ācāra: Doubt, Proof, and the Practice of Dharma (प्रत्यक्ष–आगम–आचारविचारः)
अब्भक्षेवायुभक्षैश्न शैवलोत्तरभोजनै: । अश्मकुट्टैस्तथा दान्तै: सम्प्रक्षालैस्तथापरै:
abbhakṣevāyubhakṣaiś ca śaivalottarabhojanaiḥ | aśmakuttaiś tathā dāntaiḥ samprakṣālaiś tathāparaiḥ ||
Wika ni Maheshvara: “May ilan na nabubuhay sa tubig lamang; may ilan na wari’y hangin lamang ang kinakain; ang iba’y namumuhay sa lumot at iba pang napakakaunting pagkain. May ilan na nagtitiis ng matinding pag-aayuno na parang ngumunguya ng bato; ang iba nama’y nabubuhay na pinipigil ang mga pandama at nililinis ang sarili sa paulit-ulit na paghuhugas at iba pang mga disiplina.”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the diversity and severity of ascetic disciplines—fasting, minimal diets, sense-restraint, and purification—implying that spiritual striving often involves deliberate self-denial and inner control rather than indulgence.
Śrī Maheśvara is describing various kinds of ascetics and their practices, listing extreme modes of subsistence and purification to illustrate the range of tapas undertaken in pursuit of religious merit and self-mastery.