Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 63
त्रिरात्रभोजी पश्चाच्च स बभूव मुनीश्वरः । तावत्कालं फलैर्निन्ये तावत्कालं जलाशनः । वायुभक्षस्ततो भूयस्तावत्कालमभून्मुनिः
trirātrabhojī paścācca sa babhūva munīśvaraḥ | tāvatkālaṃ phalairninye tāvatkālaṃ jalāśanaḥ | vāyubhakṣastato bhūyastāvatkālamabhūnmuniḥ
پھر وہ مُنی اِیشور ایسا ہو گیا جو ہر تین راتوں کے بعد ہی کھاتا تھا۔ اتنی ہی مدت وہ پھلوں پر رہا، اتنی ہی مدت صرف پانی کو غذا بنایا؛ اور پھر اسی قدر مدت تک وہ وायु بھکش، یعنی محض ہوا پر قائم رہنے والا، بن کر رہا۔
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator; speaker not explicit in verse)
Type: kshetra
Scene: A sequence tableau: the same sage shown in four panels—eating once in three nights, then holding fruits, then sipping water, then seated with controlled breath, body lean yet radiant with tapas-tejas.
FAQs
Purāṇic dharma honors graded self-restraint—reducing dependence on food as a symbol of inward focus.
These austerities belong to the Hāṭakeśvara-māhātmya sequence within the Nāgarakhaṇḍa.
Eating once every three nights (trirātrabhojī), then living on fruits, then water, then air-only (vāyubhakṣa) austerity.