Thank you very much for your kind help. Best wishes, Howard > On Aug 28, 2024, at 8:08 AM, Michaels, Prof. Dr. Axel via INDOLOGY > <[email protected]> wrote: > > I guess you know the following study (in German): Monika Shee: tapas und > tapasvin in der erzählenden Partien des Mahābhārata. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Inge > Wezler, 1986. > It’s a detailed philological study. Pp. 204-14 (“tapas, yoga, saṃnyāsa” and > ”tapas und Magie”) seem to be especially instructive for your question. If > you need a scan, don’t hesitate to let it me know. > Best wishes, > Axel / Michaels > > > From: INDOLOGY <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of > "[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>" > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Reply to: Patrick Olivelle <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Date: Wednesday, 28. August 2024 at 16:12 > To: Matthew Kapstein <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Cc: "[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>" > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] tapasya > > There is also the book by Walter O. Kaelber, Tapta Mārga. > <image001.png> > Tapta Marga: Asceticism and Initiation in Vedic India > <https://www.amazon.com/Tapta-Marga-Asceticism-Initiation-Vedic-India/dp/0887068138> > amazon.com > <https://www.amazon.com/Tapta-Marga-Asceticism-Initiation-Vedic-India/dp/0887068138> > > > > >> On Aug 28, 2024, at 3:20 AM, Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY >> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> Hi Howard, >> >> For some reason, I think that Heinrich Zimmer, >> may have written about this, but I’m away from my library and can’t recall >> exactly where. Maybe Philosophies of India. He was a Schopenhauerian, which >> would make good sense here, as the problem of the autonomy or heteronomy of >> the will seems clearly central to the topic that interests you. >> >> good luck >> Matthew >> >> Sent from Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> for iOS >> >> >> On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 05:29, Howard Resnick via INDOLOGY >> <[email protected] >> <mailto:On%20Wed,%20Aug%2028,%202024%20at%2005:29,%20Howard%20Resnick%20via%20INDOLOGY%20%3c%3ca%20href=>> >> wrote: >>> Dear Scholars, >>> >>> Within various genres of Sanskrit literature, perhaps especially >>> itihāsa-purāṇa, we find a pervasive belief that tapasya — serious austerity >>> -- bestows power on the performer, either directly or through the agency of >>> a Deva, Ṛṣi, or other superior being. The examples are almost innumerable. >>> >>> I’m trying to explore this claim about the power of tapasya. On the >>> empirical side, one can speak of the power of mental discipline and >>> detachment from the body, etc. But of course empirically, there is nothing >>> like the supernatural results obtained by serious ascetics in the ancient >>> literature. >>> >>> One common apologetic is to attribute or assign such powers to the previous >>> three yugas, with the claim that those powers fail in Kali-yuga. >>> >>> I bring this up because I am working on a reconstruction of the famous >>> Mahābhārata story of Ambā who performed unimaginable tapasya, and then, as >>> a result, took birth as Śikhaṇḍī and enabled the killing of Bhīṣma at >>> Kurukṣetra. >>> >>> The facile explanation of course is to invoke the notion of pre-scientific >>> mythology. I am trying to take a more cautious approach. Of course tapasya >>> as a source of power intersects the notion of attaining yoga-siddhis, a >>> process in which tapasya is also heavily involved. >>> >>> I bring this up in a heuristic, exploratory way and would be grateful for >>> any observations, insights, or theories about this, especially the link >>> between severe self-abnegation and power. >>> >>> Thanks in advance! >>> >>> Howard >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> INDOLOGY mailing list >>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> INDOLOGY mailing list >> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology > > > > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
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