Chapter 17 Shlokas 5, 6

अशास्त्रविहितं घोरं तप्यन्ते ये तपो जनाः।

दम्भाहंकारसंयुक्ताः कामरागबलान्विताः।।५।।

कर्षयन्तः शरीरस्थं भूतग्राममचेतसः।

मां चैवान्तःशरीरस्थं तान्विद्ध्यासुरनिश्चयान्।।६।।

Those who are full of arrogance, ego, desire,

attachment and vigour, and who perform tapas

which is contrary to scriptural injunction, crush Me

and other divine deities abiding in the body. Know these

ignorant beings to be possessed of demonic resolve.

Chapter 17 Shlokas 5, 6

अशास्त्रविहितं घोरं तप्यन्ते ये तपो जनाः।

दम्भाहंकारसंयुक्ताः कामरागबलान्विताः।।५।।

कर्षयन्तः शरीरस्थं भूतग्राममचेतसः।

मां चैवान्तःशरीरस्थं तान्विद्ध्यासुरनिश्चयान्।।६।।

The Lord says, “Arjuna, listen! I shall now tell you of tapas – forbearance.”

Those who are full of arrogance, ego, desire, attachment and vigour, and who perform tapas which is contrary to scriptural injunction, crush Me and other divine deities abiding in the body. Know these ignorant beings to be possessed of demonic resolve.

The Lord has elucidated here on the tapas which is contrary to scriptural injunction. But first of all, understand the basic meaning of tapas.

Tapas

a) The energy produced in the truthful individual as a result of his attachment with the Truth, which enables him to endure with forbearance.

b) To be able to smilingly endure the adversity that life brings is the consequence of tapas.

c) Tapas is in reality the augmentation of the individual’s capacity to endure.

d) There is no tapas which is greater than adherence to the Truth.

e) Silence is the innate state of the tapasvi or one who endures.

1. Tapas is not inherently painful.

2. Tapas cannot have a vestige of deceit.

3. Tapas does not connote futile bodily torture.

4. Tapas can only be practised in normal day to day life.

5. Tapas occurs naturally in the course of performing one’s duty.

6. To tread the path of Truth is a great tapas.

7. To live a life of yagya is a continual, unbroken channel of tapas.

8. The flow of divine qualities is a characteristic of the tapasvi.

9. The practice of divine qualities is also a divine tapas.

The Lord says, “Those filled with hypocrisy, ego, desire, attachment and pride of strength also practice great austerities.”

1. They subject the bodily faculties to futile torture.

2. They continually starve first one limb of the body, then another.

3. They stand steeped in cold water in the thick of winter and in the blistering sun in the midst of summer.

4. They try to walk on thorns and make great efforts to gain bodily prowess.

The Lord says that thus they:

a) torture the body and the five ‘hamlets’ of the sense faculties;

b) debilitate even Me who dwells within them as the epitome of Truth;

c) act in a manner which is contrary to the truthful code of conduct;

d) act in direct contradiction of scriptural decree.

These are the works of demonic souls.

1. Their stubborn decisions are demonic in nature.

2. Their stubborn decisions are full of arrogance, ego, desire and attachment.

3. This is due to the predominance of their tamsic attribute.

4. These people are not equipped with the intellect of Truth – and hence they do whatever comes to their mind.

5. They do not understand the connotation of scriptural tenets and attribute meanings to those tenets in consonance with their own nature and comfort.

This too is true Kamla! If our intellect abided in Truth, we would have been the Lord Himself! Here ‘Truth’ is taken to mean that which is in conformity with the Scriptures. The intellect attains its elevated status only when the mind begins to accept the dictates of the intellect in toto. So measure your intellect. If it has not attained the state of the sthit pragya, then:

a) take recourse to the Scriptures;

b) make the Lord’s Word the mainstay of your life;

c) try to understand the Lord’s Word through the example of His life.

If you cannot do this either, you are a veritable hypocrite. If you believe the decisions of your own intellect to be the most superior, who can be more foolish than you? The tapas of such ignoramuses is contrary to the supreme good. Their knowledge is not aimed at the welfare of all beings – it is used only for selfish desire attainment.

Remember, when the individual begins his sadhana or spiritual practice, he automatically becomes beneficial for his associates:

1. when you begin to practice the divine qualities;

2. when you begin to practice transcending all attributes to become a gunatit;

3. when you begin your sadhana or spiritual practice;

– your associates will inevitably benefit. As they begin to receive benefits from you, they will seek even more advantages. They will also feel free to be suspicious about your hidden intentions! They will consider you to be greedy and avaricious. Compassion towards such people and their negative tendencies is indeed tapas.

Endurance, patience, steadiness, fortitude, self-control, self-abnegation – these are the natural qualities of the tapasvi. If these are present in the sadhak’s daily life, then his life becomes a fire of devotional sacrifice – a veritable tapas. But if he abandons his normal life and feigns these qualities, they exude nothing but hypocrisy and ego.

Karshyant (कर्षयन्त) – Emaciate

The Lord proclaims that those who undertake harsh and difficult penances harm only Me, they torment only me. They are of demonic resolve and are only killing themselves. They debilitate Me who abides in them.