[INDOLOGY] tapasya

Fri Aug 30 04:02:43 UTC 2024

Talking of tapas in the form of paativratya , particularly your interest in
powers from such tapas, pativratopaakhyaana of Mahabharata comes to mind.

Pativrataa in the story , mentioning the powers coming from her actions,
says,

   शुश्रूषायाः फलं पश्य पत्युर्ब्राह्मण यादृशम् | बलाका हि त्वया दग्धा
   रोषात्तद्विदितं मम ||३०||

In her conversation with Kautsa she adds the lifestyle of a Vyaadha as
another example of the same kind as hers.

While thinking of going to Vyaadha, Kautsa describes such a lifestyle as
tapas by describing Vyaadha as tapodhana.

   कृतात्मा धर्मवित्तस्यां व्याधो निवसते किल | तं गच्छाम्यहमद्यैव धर्मं
   प्रष्टुं तपोधनम् ||३||

Again powers from vyaadha's lifestyle come into play when vyaadha says

   एकपत्न्या यदुक्तोऽसि गच्छ त्वं मिथिलामिति | जानाम्येतदहं सर्वं यदर्थं
   त्वमिहागतः ||१३||

On Fri, Aug 30, 2024 at 4:34 AM Howard Resnick via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Greetings Michael,
>
> Thank you for mentioning an important type of tapas practiced by the
> chaste wife. This reminds me of the Gītā 17.14:
>
> deva-dvija-guru-prājña-pūjanaṃ śaucam ārjavam
> brahmacaryam ahiṃsā ca śārīraṃ tapa ucyate
>
> It seems that brahmacaryam, celibacy, as a śārīram tapaḥ, bodily
> austerity, can be compared to the self-control of the chaste woman or wife.
>
> Thanks again,
> Howard
>
>
> On Aug 28, 2024, at 2:25 PM, michael baltutis via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> Greetings Howard and All,
>
> Recall the related example of the tapas of Sita in the Ramayana. I copy
> and paste the following passage from my new introduction to Hinduism
> (Baltutis 2024: 106):
>
> Kidnapped by Ravan and taken captive to his capital of Lanka, she
> contrasts his awful behavior with that of the righteous Ram (dharma-atman),
> reminding Ravan of (and threatening him with) both her shri and her shakti.
> She tells Ravan:
>
> It is only because I have not been so ordered by Rama and because I wish to
> preserve intact the power of my austerities (tapas) that I do not reduce
> you
> to ashes with my own blazing power (tejas), for that is what you deserve.
> (5.20.20 [Goldman and Sutherland Goldman 2021: 469])
>
> In this threat, Sita combines social and cultural categories that are
> often kept separate. As a woman concerned with doing her wifely duties, she
> saves the demise of Ravan for her husband Ram, a warrior, king, and avatar
> of Vishnu who regularly relieves the earth of its burden of demonic evil.
> At the same time, however, she has accumulated through her performance of
> domestic duties the tapas and tejas that male renouncers typically earn
> through powerful yogic practices.
>
> Best,
> Michael
>
> Michael Baltutis
> Professor, South Asian Religions
> Chair, Department of Anthropology, Global Religions and Cultures
> <https://uwosh.edu/anthropology/faculty-staff/>
> University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
> Book Review Editor,
> *International Journal of Hindu Studies*
> *What is Hinduism?: A Student's Introduction
> <https://www.routledge.com/What-is-Hinduism-A-Students-Introduction/Baltutis/p/book/9781138326088>**The
> Festival of Indra <https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/The-Festival-of-Indra>*
>
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 10:08:57 AM CDT, Michaels, Prof. Dr. Axel
> via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>
> I guess you know the following study (in German): Monika Shee: *tapas und tapasvin in
> der erzählenden Partien des Mahābhārata*. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Inge
> Wezler, 1986.
> It’s a detailed philological study. Pp. 204-14 (“*tapas*, *yoga*, *sa**ṃ*
> *nyāsa*” and ”*tapas* und Magie”) seem to be especially instructive for
> your question. If you need a scan, don’t hesitate to let it me know.
> Best wishes,
> Axel / Michaels
>
>
>
>
> *From: *INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of "
> indology at list.indology.info" <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Reply to: *Patrick Olivelle <jpo at austin.utexas.edu>
> *Date: *Wednesday, 28. August 2024 at 16:12
> *To: *Matthew Kapstein <mattkapstein at proton.me>
> *Cc: *"indology at list.indology.info" <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject: *Re: [INDOLOGY] tapasya
>
>
> There is also the book by Walter O. Kaelber, *Tapta Mārga.*
> [image: image001.png]
> Tapta Marga: Asceticism and Initiation in Vedic India
> <https://www.amazon.com/Tapta-Marga-Asceticism-Initiation-Vedic-India/dp/0887068138>
> amazon.com
> <https://www.amazon.com/Tapta-Marga-Asceticism-Initiation-Vedic-India/dp/0887068138>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Aug 28, 2024, at 3:20 AM, Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Howard,
>
>
> For some reason, I think that Heinrich Zimmer,
> may have written about this, but I’m away from my library and can’t recall
> exactly where. Maybe Philosophies of India. He was a Schopenhauerian, which
> would make good sense here, as the problem of the autonomy or heteronomy of
> the will seems clearly central to the topic that interests you.
>
>
> good luck
> Matthew
>
>
> Sent from Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> for iOS
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 05:29, Howard Resnick via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info
> <On%20Wed,%20Aug%2028,%202024%20at%2005:29,%20Howard%20Resnick%20via%20INDOLOGY%20%3c%3ca%20href=>>
> wrote:
>
> 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
>
>
>
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-- 
Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.
Dean, IndicA
BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra
BoS Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University, Ramtek, Maharashtra
BoS Veda Vijnana Gurukula, Bengaluru.
Member, Advisory Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru
Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies,
FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,
Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.
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