Bg 17.17
śraddhayā parayā taptaṁ tapas tat tri-vidhaṁ naraiḥ
aphalākāṅkṣibhir yuktaiḥsāttvikaṁ paricakṣate
Bg 17.18
satkāra-māna-pūjārthaṁtapo dambhena caiva yat
kriyate tad iha proktaṁ rājasaṁ calam adhruvam
Bg 17.19
mūḍha-grāheṇātmano yat pīḍayā kriyate tapaḥ
parasyotsādanārthaṁ vā tat tāmasam udāhṛtam
Translation
17. This three-fold austerity, practised by steadfast men, with the utmost faith, desiring no fruit, they call 'SATTWIC. '
18. The austerity which is practised with the object of gaining good reception, honour and worship, and with hypocrisy, is here said to be RAJASIC, unstable, and transitory.
19. That austerity which is practised with self-torture, out of some foolish notion, for the purpose of destroying another, is declared to be TAMASIC.
Commentary
When men practise austerities of body, speech and mind, steadily "with no clinging attachment to, or anxiety for, the fruits thereof," their tapas falls under the type: the Sattwic. The "good" are those integrated men who refuse to worry about the future, because they know that, in the harmony in nature, the "future is the resultant of the total past modified by the present. Since the perfection and efficiency of the PRESENT activities determine and command the FUTURE results, it is certainly un-intelligent to worry over the FUTURE and spoil the very quality of the PRESENT activities." Thus the "good," desiring no fruit, but all the same practising, with great sincerity, the three-fold tapas as explained above, come to reap a large dividend from their austerities.
Penance that is performed with a view to gaining respect, honour and reverence is said to be of the Rajasic type, performed generally by men of "passionate" nature. Self control and self-application pursued not for the purpose of one's own inner development, but only for hood-winking the world and getting cheap respect, reverence or worship, is indeed, one of the basest deceits that a man of culture can ever practise. Earlier Shri Bhagawan Himself (III-6, 7) called such men hypocrites. Seekers belonging to this group perform austerities mainly for their propaganda value, and hence, Bhagawan says that their tapas is "with ostentation" (Dambhena).
One may wonder what harm is there in practising this type of tapas? After all "tapas," as we observed, "is economy of thought-forces and the intelligent reinvestment of the economised energy into more creative fields of self-development." And yet, the Geetacharya condemns those who perform tapas with this wrong motive, and declares that such tapas is "UNSTABLE AND TRANSITORY." Any intelligent self-effort, ordinarily, has a time-lapse, before it can produce its results. Self-application must be constant and continuous in order that it may produce substantial results. When tapas is performed with such a low motive as of winning respectability in society, it cannot even gather the necessary amount of intensity and thus, tapas of the "passionate" can only end in a lot of unproductive and painful self-denials.
THE DULL-WITTED PURSUE THE TAMASIC TYPE OR TAPAS:
Tapas undertaken with a foolish obstinacy by means of self-torture, and "austerities" indulged in for the sake of destroying others are of the lowest type. A Tapaswin must have clear notions as to why he undertakes the Tapas. And also, he should know what is Tapas and how to do it. Without a correct knowledge of the technique, no seeker can independently walk the 'path' of inner integration and gain spiritual fulfilment.
When the Vedic notion of Tapas is misconstrued, the seeker will, at best, be only torturing himself. Self-torture cannot bring about any unveiling of the true beauty of the Soul; it can only create a ludicrous caricature of the Perfection in us. Twisted and torn into a disfigured personality, perverted in its emotion and unclean in its ideals --- this alone can be the outcome of any unintelligent austerity.
And when these misconceived and wrongly practised austerities are undertaken by any one for bringing about sorrow and discomfort to others, such Tapas is considered as Tamasic.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
śraddhayā parayā taptaṁ tapas tat tri-vidhaṁ naraiḥ
aphalākāṅkṣibhir yuktaiḥsāttvikaṁ paricakṣate
Bg 17.18
satkāra-māna-pūjārthaṁtapo dambhena caiva yat
kriyate tad iha proktaṁ rājasaṁ calam adhruvam
Bg 17.19
mūḍha-grāheṇātmano yat pīḍayā kriyate tapaḥ
parasyotsādanārthaṁ vā tat tāmasam udāhṛtam
Translation
17. This three-fold austerity, practised by steadfast men, with the utmost faith, desiring no fruit, they call 'SATTWIC. '
18. The austerity which is practised with the object of gaining good reception, honour and worship, and with hypocrisy, is here said to be RAJASIC, unstable, and transitory.
19. That austerity which is practised with self-torture, out of some foolish notion, for the purpose of destroying another, is declared to be TAMASIC.
Commentary
When men practise austerities of body, speech and mind, steadily "with no clinging attachment to, or anxiety for, the fruits thereof," their tapas falls under the type: the Sattwic. The "good" are those integrated men who refuse to worry about the future, because they know that, in the harmony in nature, the "future is the resultant of the total past modified by the present. Since the perfection and efficiency of the PRESENT activities determine and command the FUTURE results, it is certainly un-intelligent to worry over the FUTURE and spoil the very quality of the PRESENT activities." Thus the "good," desiring no fruit, but all the same practising, with great sincerity, the three-fold tapas as explained above, come to reap a large dividend from their austerities.
Penance that is performed with a view to gaining respect, honour and reverence is said to be of the Rajasic type, performed generally by men of "passionate" nature. Self control and self-application pursued not for the purpose of one's own inner development, but only for hood-winking the world and getting cheap respect, reverence or worship, is indeed, one of the basest deceits that a man of culture can ever practise. Earlier Shri Bhagawan Himself (III-6, 7) called such men hypocrites. Seekers belonging to this group perform austerities mainly for their propaganda value, and hence, Bhagawan says that their tapas is "with ostentation" (Dambhena).
One may wonder what harm is there in practising this type of tapas? After all "tapas," as we observed, "is economy of thought-forces and the intelligent reinvestment of the economised energy into more creative fields of self-development." And yet, the Geetacharya condemns those who perform tapas with this wrong motive, and declares that such tapas is "UNSTABLE AND TRANSITORY." Any intelligent self-effort, ordinarily, has a time-lapse, before it can produce its results. Self-application must be constant and continuous in order that it may produce substantial results. When tapas is performed with such a low motive as of winning respectability in society, it cannot even gather the necessary amount of intensity and thus, tapas of the "passionate" can only end in a lot of unproductive and painful self-denials.
THE DULL-WITTED PURSUE THE TAMASIC TYPE OR TAPAS:
Tapas undertaken with a foolish obstinacy by means of self-torture, and "austerities" indulged in for the sake of destroying others are of the lowest type. A Tapaswin must have clear notions as to why he undertakes the Tapas. And also, he should know what is Tapas and how to do it. Without a correct knowledge of the technique, no seeker can independently walk the 'path' of inner integration and gain spiritual fulfilment.
When the Vedic notion of Tapas is misconstrued, the seeker will, at best, be only torturing himself. Self-torture cannot bring about any unveiling of the true beauty of the Soul; it can only create a ludicrous caricature of the Perfection in us. Twisted and torn into a disfigured personality, perverted in its emotion and unclean in its ideals --- this alone can be the outcome of any unintelligent austerity.
And when these misconceived and wrongly practised austerities are undertaken by any one for bringing about sorrow and discomfort to others, such Tapas is considered as Tamasic.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
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