Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 11: Rāma Goes to Agastya’s Āśrama
Text 3.11.13
स हि तेपे तपस्तीव्रं माण्डकर्णिर्महामुनिः।
दशवर्षसहस्राणि वायुभक्षो जलाश्रयः॥
sa hi tepe tapas tīvraṁ māṇḍakarṇir mahā-muniḥ
daśa-varṣa-sahasrāṇi vāyu-bhakṣo jalāśrayaḥ
saḥ hi = that famous; tepe = performed; tapaḥ = austerities; tīvram = fierce; māṇḍakarṇiḥ = Māṇḍakarṇi; mahā-muniḥ = and great sage; daśa-varṣa-sahasrāṇi = for ten thousand years; vāyu-bhakṣaḥ = while consuming air; jala-āśrayaḥ = in water.
That famous and great sage Māṇḍakarṇi performed fierce austerities for ten thousand years in water while consuming air.1
1 “While consuming air” means “while consuming nothing but air.”
Māṇḍakarṇi immersed himself in the waters of the lake that he had created.