Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 24

Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)

Devanagari script

जलाहारो वायुभक्ष: पर्णाहारश्न सो5भवत्‌

Transliteration

jalāhāro vāyubhakṣaḥ parṇāhāraś ca so 'bhavat

Translation

Sinabi ni Vaiśaṃpāyana: Isinagawa niya ang mahigpit na pag-aayuno at pagtitika—kung minsan tubig lamang ang kanyang ikinabubuhay, kung minsan ay wari’y hangin lamang ang kanyang ikinabubuhay, at kung minsan ay mga nalaglag na dahon—kaya’t niyakap niya ang buhay ng mahigpit na pagpipigil-sa-sarili.

Word by Word

• जलाहारः: one whose food is water (water-drinker)
• जलाहारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जलाहार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वायुभक्षः: one who feeds on air
• वायुभक्षः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वायुभक्ष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पर्णाहारः: one whose food is leaves
• पर्णाहारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर्णाहार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अभवत्: became / was
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), Third, Singular

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights tapas (austerity) and disciplined restraint: by reducing dependence on food to water, then to mere breath, and then to leaves, one embodies rigorous self-control—often presented in the epic as a means to purify intention and strengthen resolve in the pursuit of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana reports that a certain person (contextually identified in surrounding verses) undertakes escalating forms of fasting and ascetic living—water-only, air-only, and leaf-only—signaling a turn toward severe penance or renunciant discipline within the unfolding events of Śalya Parva.