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

[Amuthan Arunkumar R]

namo nArAyaNAya !

dear list members and SrI jayanArAyaNan,

--- S Jayanarayanan <sjayana at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Just want to point out that the above does NOT
> constitute a
> definition of tapas! It merely says what tapas is in
> relation to
> the body.
 
i guess u'r right. i'm extremely sorry to have
overlooked this simple thing. 

but i'd like to add some more regarding definitions of
terms like tapas...

--- S Jayanarayanan <sjayana at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Ganapati Muni, who was one of the most well-read
> scholars of the
> last century, approached Ramana while the latter
> remained
> immersed in silence most of the time and was largely
> unknown to
> the public, and asked the question, "All that has to
> be read I
> have read; even Vedanta sastra I have fully
> understood; I have
> done japa to my heart's content; yet I have not up
> to this time
> understood what tapas is. Therefore I have sought
> refuge at your
> feet. Pray enlighten me as to the nature of tapas."
> 
> Ramana replied, now speaking, "If one watches whence
> the notion
> 'I' arises, the mind gets absorbed there; that is
> tapas. When a
> mantra is repeated, if one watches whence that
> mantra sound
> arises, the mind gets absorbed there; that is
> tapas."

i'd like to point out that terms like tapas, mouna
etc. can be defined both from the point of view of a
jIvanmukta and a sAdhaka. for instance, mouna may in
the beginning stages i.e. for a sAdhaka, be defined as
not speaking, i.e. silence. in the next stage, this
definition can be improved as eliminating thoughts
from the minds and keeping it thougtless. but from the
point of view of a jIvanmukta, mouna is abidance in
the Self. of course, the true definition is that given
by a jIvanmukta and all other definitions converge to
the true definition as a sAdhaka advances. 

similarly, the above mentioned definition of tapas by
SrI ramaNa maharshi is from the point of view of a
jIvan mukta. 

from the point of view of a sAdhaka, tapas can be
taken as "SarIraSoshaNam" (SANDilyopanishad) which is
also in some sense the same as "dvandva sahanam" as
SrI ravi pointed out earlier. 

--- S Jayanarayanan <sjayana at yahoo.com> wrote:

>  I personally feel the usual
> translation of
> "penance" does no justice to the word's true
> meaning.

well, from the sAdhaka's point of view, translation of
tapas as "penance" or "austerity" seems to be a good
translation though, it may not be the true meaning
(which only a jIvanmukta knows).

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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