Tapasya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tapasya is the principle and practice of physical and spiritual austerity and discipline to achieve a particular aim.
A Sanskrit word, Tapasya is literally a personal endeavor of discipline, undertaken to achieve a goal. It is usually applied in religious and spiritual terms, but can be applied to any field or context. One who undertakes a tapasya is a Tapasvin.
Monks and gurus in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism practice tapasya as a means to purify and strengthen their devotion to God, practice a religious lifestyle and obtain moksha, or spiritual liberation. Performing tapasya is an imbibed characteristic of every religion born in India.
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[edit] Undertaking Tapasya
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A Tapasya may be striving for nirvana, or moksha. It may also be striving for perfection in a particular sport, field of knowledge or work. A tapasya may also be undertaken as penance, to liberate oneself from the consequences of a sin or sinful activities, or karma.
A tapasya is basically the process of endeavor involved in obtaining a specific goal. The steps one undertakes, the discipline and devotion one keeps and the principles one adheres to define the tapasya of the person.
[edit] Brahmacharya
A tapasya is closely associated with meditation, fasting and the practice of yoga. A meditative tapasya involves focusing entirely upon God, the Supreme Brahman and ignoring all environmental, artificial and other provocations or distractions. In the purest state of meditation, no thought save that of God must occupy the processes of the mind.
A tapasvin also practices brahmacharya, endeavoring to control all his or her biological instincts, functions and senses. Tapasvins reduce consumption of food and drink steadily, using their mental, intuitive force to reduce their biological needs. Ahimsa and vegetarianism, pure non-violence towards all living beings is practiced to eliminate anger, destructive impulses and avoid the sin of hurting others.
Fasting is accompanied by avoiding all cooked foods, especially spices and meats. Only fruits and roots are considered acceptable, and one may strive to reduce the quantity one has to consume.
[edit] Yoga and Vows
Yoga is closely linked with tapasya. The disciplined and concentrated practice of yogic arts and exercises may be considered tapasya by itself.
A vow to observe brahmacharya, silence or fast is the commitment an individual offers to complete the objectives of a tapasya. The observance of a vow is tapasya itself.
[edit] Religion and Mythology
In the ancient scriptures, mythology and folklore of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism, holy men, women and heroes undertake tapasya to obtain a spiritual goal of realization, or salvation. Many of the times a tapasya is undertaken to win a boon by pleasing a God, and many other times it is undertaken to increase one's pious characteristics.
[edit] Famous Tapasvins
- Ravana: according to the Ramayana, as a young man Ravana undertakes a terrible penance, lasting over 1,000 years to please Lord Shiva. When Shiva does not appear before him, Ravana begins to cut off his ten heads one by one - cutting one head off and meditating again for a thousand years, then cutting another. When he is about to cut off his last and base head, Shiva appears. He grants Ravana's request for immeasurable strength and knowledge of weapons.
Ravana then undertakes another penance for 10,000 years, endeavoring to please Lord Brahma. Brahma tells Ravana that he cannot grant him the immortality he desires, for none of the created are immortal. But Ravana obtains invulnerability against all celestial beings and living creatures, save man.
- Vishwamitra: king Kaushika undertakes a heavy penance, fasting and meditating for thousands of years to become the equal of Guru Vasishta, a Brahmarishi. He steadily rises to become a Rajarshi, or a royal saint after a thousand years, but is not satisfied.
Even harder penance wins him the status of rishi, and rising to the brahmin order from the kshatriya order. But that is not enough for him. He strives harder to control his sensual passions, including the sexual urge which ruined his tapasya when he consorted with the apsaras Menaka, and the anger which led him to attack Vasishta and turn another apsaras Rambha into stone.
After over 10,000 years, Lord Brahma rewards Kaushika's fearsome penance with the title of Brahmarishi, the highest of all brahmins and holy men, and equal to Vasishta. However now, Kaushika has dissolved his anger as a result of his tapasya, and is named Vishwamitra, meaning Friend of the Universe, prepared to help anybody who sought his help.
- Bhagiratha: was an ancient Indian king who brought down the River Ganga to earth.
Bringing Ganga back to Earth was a near impossible task and required many years to be spent in tapasya and prayer. The Kosala kings of successive generations could not do this while managing their duties as kings. As a result, the sins of the thousand princes multiplied in their destructive energy, and began resulting in natural disasters. The kingdom began to lose its peace and prosperity, and by the time Bhagiratha ascended the throne, he found it impossible to attempt to govern in this situation, that had only one solution.
Turning over the kingdom to trusted ministers, Bhagiratha set off to the Himalayas to perform an arduous tapasya in the extreme climate. For one thousand years, he performed an excruciatingly harsh penance to please Lord Brahma. At the end of the thousand years, Brahma came to him and told him to ask for anything. Bhagiratha asked Brahma to bring down the river Ganga to earth so that he may perform the ceremony for his ancestors.
Brahma asked Bhagiratha to propitiate Lord Shiva, for only He would be able to break the Ganga's fall. It was the largest river, and it would be impossible for anyone save Him to contain the destructive impact of this event.
Bhagiratha performed a tapasya for Lord Shiva, living only on air. The compassionate Shiva appeared only after a year's penance, and told Bhagiratha he should not have to perform tapasya to accomplish a noble goal such as this. He assured Bhagiratha that he would break Ganga's fall.
[edit] Buddha and Mahavira
The meditation undertaken by Siddhartha Gautama and Mahavira, the founders of Buddhism and Jainism respectively, earns them the exalted state of Enlightenment and Moksha. Their tapasya, undertaken to obtain salvation from a sinful, disturbing and violent world, was the foundation of their teachings.
To this day, Buddhist and Jain monks keep rigid discipline, stringent vows and persistent study of their religion. Jain monks are often witnessed to take immense care by wrapping their feet in thick, soft cloth to avoid killing insects, as per the absolute non-violence taught by Mahavira.
The state of Buddha is famously seen as a man sitting in deep meditation with folded, intertwined legs and his whole body, not just mind but muscles as well, sunken in deep meditation.
[edit] Modern Tapasvins
Modern Hindu mendicants pursue their respective tapasyas - meditation and study of religion in ashrams across India and the world. Many hundreds of monks and mendicants base themselves around the holy sites of Hinduism, or in hermitages around the Himalayas to observe their vows and penance in an as religious environment as possible.
[edit] Exhausting or Violating Tapasya
One may exhaust all the merit or virtuous credit one has earned through their tapasya if one indulges in actions contrary to the principles and discipline of the tapasya, such as indulging in sense pleasures, or committing a sin or a crime.
A tapasya may be violated if an outside influence or the tapasvin distracts himself or herself, successfully causing a break in the spiritual concentration or impurifying the environment in which the tapasya is conducted.
