[INDOLOGY] tapasya

[Howard Resnick]

Dear Scholars,

Within various genres of Sanskrit literature, perhaps especially itihāsa-purāṇa, we find a pervasive belief that tapasya — serious austerity -- bestows power on the performer, either directly or through the agency of a Deva, Ṛṣi, or other superior being. The examples are almost innumerable.

I’m trying to explore this claim about the power of tapasya. On the empirical side, one can speak of the power of mental discipline and detachment from the body, etc. But of course empirically, there is nothing like the supernatural results obtained by serious ascetics in the ancient literature.

One common apologetic is to attribute or assign such powers to the previous three yugas, with the claim that those powers fail in Kali-yuga. 

I bring this up because I am working on a reconstruction of the famous Mahābhārata story of Ambā who performed unimaginable tapasya, and then, as a result, took birth as Śikhaṇḍī and enabled the killing of Bhīṣma at Kurukṣetra. 

The facile explanation of course is to invoke the notion of pre-scientific mythology. I am trying to take a more cautious approach. Of course tapasya as a source of power intersects the notion of attaining yoga-siddhis, a process in which tapasya is also heavily involved.

I bring this up in a heuristic, exploratory way and would be grateful for any observations, insights, or theories about this, especially the link between severe self-abnegation and power.

Thanks in advance!

Howard