Tapas

devadvijaguruprājñapūjanaṁ śaucam ārjavam |

brahmacaryamahiṁsā ca śārīraṁ tapa ucyate ||17.14||

Worshipping deities, brāmaṇas, teachers and wise people, external cleanliness, straightforwardness, self-discipline, and not physically hurting are (collectively) called discipline of the physical body.

Tapa - religious discipline, is viewed as three-fold from the standpoint of the primary means used to perform it. It can be predominantly physical - śārīram or kāyikam-tapas, oral - vācikam-tapas, or mental - mānasam-tapas. They are meant for purification - śuddhi. As we clean any instrument - karaṇa, before using it, like cleaning eyeglasses before using them to see, we prepare our mind by these disciplines so that we can understand knowledge clearly. Only when all the karaṇa are clean, things are clear.

The disciplines told in this verse are centred mainly on the body. Therefore they are called śārīra-tapas. The first to be listed among them is pūjanaṁ - devotion, worship, respect, and so on. Daily offering of worships to deities in some form or the other is deva-pūjanaṁ. When one never fails to do this, on a daily basis, it is tapas.

Then, respect is also to be given to dvija - brāhmana and teachers who protect and preserve the Vedas. Anyone who teaches is a guru, and we find that in life, there are three types of teacher. Parents are our first teachers. Then, there are other teachers who have taught us various disciplines of knowledge and those from whom we have learned important lessons of life. Finally, there is the spiritual teacher who may initiate one into mantra japa or give ātmājñānam. Because they are meaningful people in my life, therefore we can do things to show our reverence. Since śārīra-tapas are being discussed here, acts of respect like offering flowers or some service are implied here. Also for prājña - a wise person is also to be respected.

Cleanliness - śaucam, is another important discipline. Cleanliness here means external cleanliness because these tapas are centred on the body. Keeping the external environment and the physical body cleaned implies regular care and is important in providing a conducive atmosphere for any pursuit, especially that of a spiritual seeker.

Then ārjavam - straightforwardness in dealing with people. A commitment to being straightforward in all interactions is the tapas here. It necessarily means a perfect alignment of thought, word and deed. Brahmacaryam is definitely restrained at the level of the external organs, therefore it is also a form of dama. Ahimsa - non-hurting, as the tapas here is curbing the tendency to hurt physically.

Then we have discipline at the level of speech - vāk-tapas. Here it is presented very clearly in one sentence.

anudvegakaraṁ vākyaṁ satyaṁ priyahitaṁ ca yat |

svādhyāyābhyasanaṁ caiva vāṅmayaṁ tapa ucyate ||17.15||

Speech, which does not cause agitation, which is true, pleasing and beneficial, and daily repetition of one’s own Veda, are (collectively) called discipline of speech.

In speaking, using words that do not cause any kind of pain to another person - anudvegakaraṁ is very important. When I speak, what to say or how I say should not invoke irritation in the person I am addressing. Then again, what I say has to be satyaṁ - true. And it should bring happiness to the person immediately, as it is being said - priya. Not only that, it should bring happiness in the long run also. Therefore it should be beneficial - hitaṁ to that person. Śankara says, here the word “ca - and”, means that all four things that are mentioned here have equal status. Only if the person includes all of them, then it is called discipline of speech - vāṅmayaṁ tapa ucyate.

Discipline at the level of speech also includes the repetition of one’s own Veda - svādhyāyābhyasanaṁ. Daily one has to repeat one’s own Veda, or at least a portion of it. If he cannot repeat even a portion, he repeats the gāyatrī-mantra because it is considered to be the essence of Veda. If one is not initiated into mantra, one also can do daily study of the scripture. But to do it without fail, every day is very important. These all together form a discipline of speech. Then, what are mental tapas?

manaḥprasādaḥ saumyatvaṁ maunam ātmavinigrahaḥ |

bhāvasaṁśuddhirityetat tapo mānasam ucyate ||17.16||

Mental cheerfulness, cheerfulness in expression, absence of pressure to talk, mastery over the mind, clean intent - this (these together) is called mental discipline.

manaḥprasādaḥ is mental cheerfulness. The word, “mental” is used deliberately here because, sometimes we can put on an appearance of cheerfulness, but not be mentally cheerful at all. A discipline that helps you acquire and maintain mental cheerfulness is called tapas here. It involves a prayerful attitude, and an acceptance of myself. This includes acceptance of the past, and of the world as I find it. It involves living in the present. What happened yesterday was yesterday. If in the past I made a mistake let it be. I am wiser for it. If now I regret the past, today is also wasted.

And our view about the future is also resolved in an attitude of surrender and simple appreciation. I may plan for the future, but I will do what I can today. This is living “one-day at a time”. With reference to the result of action, and what is to be done, certain surrender allows me to live happily.

When the mind has this attitude, there is saumyatvaṁ - cheerfulness in expression from the frame of mind. When mental cheerfulness is there, there is an external expression evident on the face, and that is what we call saumyatvaṁ. The tapas here is, when we are displeased, we bring back a pleased condition of mind, which will bring about a smile. This is not a behavioural modification, but a change that comes about by a process of thinking.

maunam - restraint in speaking. Even though it is a discipline of organ of speech, and might be included in the discussion of vāktapas, here it is considered as a mental discipline. When there are certain words that we want to say, and we refrain from saying them, that is mounam at the level of speech. If the thoughts themselves do not arise, that is also mounam but at the level of mind. It is a tapas because it can be accomplished only by discipline.

ātmavinigrahaḥ - mastery over the ways of the mind, in general. By proper discipline, we gain certain mastery over the ways of thinking and are not carried away by string of thought. Whatever is necessary in following this discipline is called tapas. bhāvasaṁśuddhiḥ - clean intentions when we are dealing with people. All these together are called tapas in the level of mind - tapo mānasam ucyate.