[Advaita-l] BGBh and yoga - yama-niyama - I

[Amuthan Arunkumar R]

namo nArAyaNAya !

dear list members,

--- S Jayanarayanan <sjayana at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Is the word "tapas" ever defined (as in a formal
> definition) in
> any of the scriptures (gItA or elsewhere), or is the
> meaning
> taken for granted? 

well, there may be a lot of definitions of tapas
elsewhere, but one that i can immediately refer to is
the definition of tapas in a three-fold way given by
SrI kR^ishNa in SrImadbhagavadgItA,

devadvijaguruprAj~napUjana.m SaucamArjava.m .
brahmacharyamahimsA cha SArira.m tapa uchyate ..
(17/14)

Worship of deva-s, dvija-s, guru, and the enlightened
sages, cleanliness, straightforwardness, continence
and non-violence constitute the tapas of the body.
(17/14) 

anudvegakara.m vAkya.m satya.m priyahita.m cha yat .
svAdhyAyAbhyasana.m chaiva vAN^maya.m tapa uchyate ..
(17/15)

Speaking words that do not inflict pain on others,
that is truthful, pleasant and beneficial, regular
study of the scriptures, these constitute tapas of
speech. (17/15)

mana.h prasAda.h saumyatva.m maunamAtmavinigraha.h .
bhAvasa.mSuddhirityetattapo mAnasamuchyate .. (17/16)

Calmness of the mind, benevolence, silence, focusing
the mind onto the Self, and purity of
intentions/thoughts, these constitute the tapas of the
mind. (17/16)

(the above is a free translation and may be subject to
errors. if so, please correct them).

hari sarvatra, 
aparyAptAmR^ita.h

Amuthan Arunkumar R,
4th year, B.Tech/M.Tech Dual Degree,
Department of Aerospace Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
 
Address : 327, Tapti Hostel, IIT Madras.

Ph : 9840482709

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