Thank you Nagaraj! > On Aug 29, 2024, at 9:02 PM, Nagaraj Paturi <[email protected]> wrote: > > Talking of tapas in the form of paativratya , particularly your interest in > powers from such tapas, pativratopaakhyaana of Mahabharata comes to mind. > > Pativrataa in the story , mentioning the powers coming from her actions, > says, > > शुश्रूषायाः फलं पश्य पत्युर्ब्राह्मण यादृशम् | > बलाका हि त्वया दग्धा रोषात्तद्विदितं मम ||३०|| > In her conversation with Kautsa she adds the lifestyle of a Vyaadha as > another example of the same kind as hers. > > While thinking of going to Vyaadha, Kautsa describes such a lifestyle as > tapas by describing Vyaadha as tapodhana. > कृतात्मा धर्मवित्तस्यां व्याधो निवसते किल | > तं गच्छाम्यहमद्यैव धर्मं प्रष्टुं तपोधनम् ||३|| > > Again powers from vyaadha's lifestyle come into play when vyaadha says > एकपत्न्या यदुक्तोऽसि गच्छ त्वं मिथिलामिति | > जानाम्येतदहं सर्वं यदर्थं त्वमिहागतः ||१३|| > > On Fri, Aug 30, 2024 at 4:34 AM Howard Resnick via INDOLOGY > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> Greetings Michael, >> >> Thank you for mentioning an important type of tapas practiced by the chaste >> wife. This reminds me of the Gītā 17.14: >> >> deva-dvija-guru-prājña-pūjanaṃ śaucam ārjavam >> brahmacaryam ahiṃsā ca śārīraṃ tapa ucyate >> >> It seems that brahmacaryam, celibacy, as a śārīram tapaḥ, bodily austerity, >> can be compared to the self-control of the chaste woman or wife. >> >> Thanks again, >> Howard >> >>> On Aug 28, 2024, at 2:25 PM, michael baltutis via INDOLOGY >>> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> >>> Greetings Howard and All, >>> >>> Recall the related example of the tapas of Sita in the Ramayana. I copy and >>> paste the following passage from my new introduction to Hinduism (Baltutis >>> 2024: 106): >>> >>> Kidnapped by Ravan and taken captive to his capital of Lanka, she contrasts >>> his awful behavior with that of the righteous Ram (dharma-atman), reminding >>> Ravan of (and threatening him with) both her shri and her shakti. She tells >>> Ravan: >>> >>> It is only because I have not been so ordered by Rama and because I wish to >>> preserve intact the power of my austerities (tapas) that I do not reduce you >>> to ashes with my own blazing power (tejas), for that is what you deserve. >>> (5.20.20 [Goldman and Sutherland Goldman 2021: 469]) >>> >>> In this threat, Sita combines social and cultural categories that are often >>> kept separate. As a woman concerned with doing her wifely duties, she saves >>> the demise of Ravan for her husband Ram, a warrior, king, and avatar of >>> Vishnu who regularly relieves the earth of its burden of demonic evil. At >>> the same time, however, she has accumulated through her performance of >>> domestic duties the tapas and tejas that male renouncers typically earn >>> through powerful yogic practices. >>> >>> Best, >>> Michael >>> >>> Michael Baltutis >>> Professor, South Asian Religions >>> Chair, Department of Anthropology, Global Religions and Cultures >>> <https://uwosh.edu/anthropology/faculty-staff/> >>> University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh >>> Book Review Editor, International Journal of Hindu Studies >>> What is Hinduism?: A Student's Introduction >>> <https://www.routledge.com/What-is-Hinduism-A-Students-Introduction/Baltutis/p/book/9781138326088> >>> The Festival of Indra <https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/The-Festival-of-Indra> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 10:08:57 AM CDT, Michaels, Prof. Dr. Axel >>> via INDOLOGY <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[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 >>> <image001.png> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 > > > -- > Nagaraj Paturi > > Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA. > Dean, IndicA > BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra > BoS Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University, Ramtek, Maharashtra > BoS Veda Vijnana Gurukula, Bengaluru. > Member, Advisory Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru > Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies, > FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of Liberal Education, > Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA. > > >
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