Chapter 17 Shloka 14

देवद्विजगुरूप्राज्ञपूजनं शौचमार्जवम्।

ब्रह्मचर्यमहिंसा च शारीरं तप उच्यते।।१४।।

The worship of gods, great souls, gurus

and exceptionally wise men of knowledge;

the practice of purity, simplicity, chastity

and non-injury, these constitute

bodily forbearance or tapas.

Chapter 17 Shloka14

देवद्विजगुरूप्राज्ञपूजनं शौचमार्जवम्।

ब्रह्मचर्यमहिंसा च शारीरं तप उच्यते।।१४।।

The Lord now speaks of physical forbearance or tapas.

The worship of gods, great souls, gurus and exceptionally wise men of knowledge; the practice of purity, simplicity, chastity and non-injury, these constitute bodily forbearance or tapas.

Deva (देव) – The gods

1. Unique divine beings are called deva.

2. Devas are souls worthy of worship.

3. They are peerless, elevated souls, who grant us a vision of the Supreme Essence.

4. They are the source of an incessant flow of divine riches.

5. Those who are radiant with divine energy are known as deva.

6. They may be human beings who are replete with the qualities of the Supreme.

7. They remove impurity, sorrow and sin.

8. They are a treasury of grace and compassion.

9. Deva is the Supreme Brahm, the unending energy.

Dvij (द्विज)

1. Those who perform great deeds in the world.

2. Those who inspire faith and veneration.

3. Those who are worthy of respect.

4. Benefactors of all.

5. Those who always adhere to duty.

6. Elevated souls whose actions are auspicious and beneficial for all.

7. Those whose life is a yagya as prescribed by the holy Scriptures.

8. Those within whose heart the attributes of the Supreme reside eternally and abundantly.

9. Those who are the epitome of the knowledge of the Truth.

10. Those who conduct themselves virtuously and in the welfare of all beings, and from whom the qualities of the Supreme flow incessantly to all beings.

Guru (गुरु)

1. Guru connotes one who is superior.

2. A true Guru is a boon bestowed by Brahm Himself.

3. That pre-eminent being who imparts knowledge and leads one towards the Supreme Brahm is indeed a Guru.

4. One who explains the essence of spiritual living is indeed a Guru.

A Guru is that elevated soul who seems most ordinary yet who explains the depths of spiritual living with the proof of his life. His life is an example of all that he teaches.

5. A Guru is not merely a form, a Guru is a state of being.

6. A Guru is not merely an external entity – he is the consequence of internal excellence and superiority.

7. That one can be called a Guru who not only elucidates the theory of knowledge, but explains it in practice.

8. There the mind, words and actions converge to form a harmonious whole.

The Supreme Guru is one who is an epitome of Adhyatam – the science of spiritual living. Every person from whom one has gained any knowledge in any sphere should be acknowledged as a guru. An aspirant who lives in the Truth will always remain head bowed in humility, because each moment is a moment of learning for him.

True worship of the Guru comprises becoming like one’s venerated Master.

Praagya (प्राज्ञ)

a) One who is replete with knowledge.

b) One who has attained the state of pragya.

c) One who seeks nothing from the world.

d) One who is akin to a deity; that is, one who possesses divine qualities and abides in knowledge.

e) One who is a sthit pragya.

A sadhak or an aspirant worships the gods, the venerated benefactors of all, the Guru, and those established in pragya.

1. His worship constitutes bodily or physical tapas.

2. His service constitutes bodily endurance.

3. To follow these elevated souls entails bodily forbearance.

4. To serve these souls as a duty is indeed the supreme tapas.

5. To assist these venerated souls requires great bodily endurance.

Success in such worship depends on the seeker’s purity, simplicity, chastity and tendency towards non-injury.

Shauch (शौच) – Purity

This comprises purity of gross action, or purity that accrues from one’s deeds.

To serve such elevated souls is indeed most difficult.

a) Such people seek nothing for themselves.

b) It is difficult to know their interests and tastes.

c) It is also extremely difficult to act in accordance with their perspective of life.

d) If purity lacks in actions, they will be unable to do anything.

e) Little one, it is not easy to live with a saint, because at times it becomes extremely difficult to tolerate his natural adherence to the Truth. He also constantly indicates the lacunae in the aspirant’s life.

f) The ordinary man does not like to hear anything against himself. Therefore it is extremely difficult for him to endure proximity to such an exalted soul.

g) The jobs of such elevated souls are also extremely ordinary and simple. At times, it is much easier to do big things – whereas to engage oneself for a lifetime in small tasks may be most unfulfilling.

h) Little one, service of the saints necessarily generates similar virtuous and pure qualities in a seeker. To serve a saint is indeed an act of tapas or endurance.

Aarjav (आर्जव)

(See also Chp.16, shloka 1)

a) Simplicity of the mind and intellect.

b) Humility of the mind and intellect.

c) Honesty, lack of guile.

d) Absence of hypocrisy and pride.

e) Straightforwardness.

Little one, if an individual does not possess this trait of clarity and simplicity, he will not be able to worship or serve anyone.

Brahmcharya (ब्रह्मचर्य)

1. A code of behaviour that is akin to that of Brahm Himself.

2. One who has vowed to adhere to the Truth is a brahmchari.

3. One who has vowed to adhere to the code of conduct that is akin to that of the Supreme is a brahmchari.

4. The vow taken by one who is established in Yoga is brahmcharya.

5. The one who practises the qualities of the Supreme has truly taken the vow of brahmcharya.

6. One who has taken a vow to follow the qualities of the Supreme with sincerity, without being influenced by his own likes and dislikes, can be said to be a brahmchari.

7. The brahmchari is one who perceives the world from Brahm’s point of view.

A brahmchari has no fixed belief or conviction. He seeks merely to mould his life in the cast of the Supreme. Such brahmcharya is a continual abidance in tapas.

(For a further elucidation of Brahmcharya, see Chp.16, shloka 4 and Chp.8, shloka 11)

Ahimsa (अहिंसा)

1. The tendency to avoid any harm to another.

2. To avoid injury to another.

3. To never steal from another.

4. To never snatch away another’s rights.

5. To never establish oneself and destroy another.

The spiritual aspirant does not injure even his essential being – his swaroop. The ‘I’ and ego are indeed violent predators. Ego is the epitome of perniciousness, causing harm is the very nature of the ego. Non-injury or ahimsa is the manifestation of a pure, divine love and other divine qualities. (For a further elucidation on Ahimsa, see Chp.10, shloka 2 and Chp.16, shloka 2)

The Lord states that the worship of venerated beings, purity, simplicity, brahmcharya and ahimsa – all these constitute tapas pertaining to the body. Such tapas is perfected only through actions performed by the body-self. It is the body that serves and it is the bodily sense organs through which the spiritual aspirant practises self-control, purity, brahmcharya, simplicity and ahimsa.

The body has to endure much throughout the duration of such practice – thus it is the body that undergoes tapas. Therefore the Lord classifies all these acts as tapas related to the body.