Concentrated spiritual exercises to attain God, penance, severe austerities. (Glossary for the Vahinis)

Observe control of speech; cultivate purity of feeling; practice humility; let your thoughts be always on the Brahma tattvam. Then you can be said to be in mental Tapas. (P.Vah, p.297)

The mind should be free from anxiety and worry, hate and fear, greed and pride. It should be saturated with love for all beings. It has to dwell on God. It has to be restrained from pursuing objective pleasures. No lower thought should be allowed to creep in; all thoughts must be directed towards the elevation of the individual to higher planes. This is the proper Tapas of the mind, or manas.

Now for the physical Tapas. Use the body and its strength and capabilities for the service of others, for holding the senses away from the deleterious paths, and for treading the path of God. The service of the sick and the distressed, the observance of moral codes and such beneficial acts must make it sacrosanct.

Vocal Tapas too, has to be engaged in. Avoid talking too much; desist from false statements; do not take delight in backbiting and in scandal mongering; never speak harshly, speak softly and sweetly, speak with the memory of Madhava ever in the background of the mind. Of these three, physical tapas, mental tapas and vocal tapas, even if one is absent, the Atmic effulgence (Atmajyoti) cannot radiate light.

The lamp, the wick and the oil are all essential for a light; the body is the lamp, the mind is the oil and the tongue is the wick. All the three must be in good trim. (GV, p. 241)

‘Koham? Who am I?’ ‘Why this feeling in me that I am the doer?’ ‘What is the nature of consciousness that I am the enjoyer?’ ‘Why be born and die at last?’ ‘How did I deserve this life?’ ‘Can I be liberated from this Samsara, this series of entrances and exits?’ The attempt to discover answers to these questions is what the rishis of old designated as ‘Tapas’. When the intellect of the individual ripens into this steady enquiry, he enters the path of ‘Tapas’.

This is the first step. As soon as the man has ascended this step, the Shastras, or the collective wisdom of seekers enshrined in sacred texts, welcome him. The Sruti, or the Vedas, directs him to ‘listen, ruminate and practice’ the axiomatic counsel of the sages. They assure him that he will attain the goal of release, and free himself from the delusive fascination of the visible world, portrayed for him by his own mind. (BPV, p. 98-99)

Tapas firstly means cleansing of the mind of all impure thoughts. Tapas actually implies co-ordination of one’s thought, word and deed - harmonisation of our thoughts, words and deeds. Whatever thoughts arise in our mind, to render them into words as they are, and to put them faithfully into action - that is the implication of Tapas. (TTFFW, p. 12)

Tapas does not man merely meditating in certain postures. Real penance consists in striving for the realisation of one’s higher aims by maintaining purity in thought, word and deed and pursuing the aims with one-pointed concentration. Satatam Yoginah (Always be established in Yoga), it is said. You must earn for the realisation of the Formless Absolute. That yearning turns into penance in due course. Merely going to a forest and living on roots and leaves does not constitute penance. To get rid of evil thoughts and passions and to fill the mind with sacred feelings is real penance. (D3, pp. 85-86)

Tapas or penance does not refer to certain postures or bodily deprivations. Tapas refers to the intense anguish you experience when you feel yourself separated from God. Whenever that anguish of separation is with you, wherever you may be, then you are engaged in Tapas. During this experience of anguish, with its intense aspiration for reaching God, you will not come under the spell of the three Gunas, the three attributes or qualities, Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva. At that time, all the Gunas will merge together and become one. It is this union of the three gunas which may be described as Tapas. With it comes an ineffable joy, which is the very bliss of ananda, or eternal delight and bliss results.

Instead of pursuing this path of Tapo Guna, man today is encouraging the Tamo guna that is laziness and intellectual inertia. He has neglected and forgotten the ability to perform Tapas. When you let your vision roam in the temporary and transient world, it becomes Tamas. When you concentrate your vision and your awareness and the permanent God, then it becomes Tapas. (DBG, p. 72)

Vairagya is the first important discipline that should be undertaken. The second is Abhyasa, or constant practice. What kind of practice can be called Abhyasa? One kind is Tapas, which means austerity or penance. The moment people hear this word they get a little frightened. They inevitably associate Tapas with going into the forest, eating whatever fruits and roots are available there, and exposing themselves to a number of risks and sufferings. Truly speaking that is not Tapas, that is just putting the body through some external sufferings and punishment.

It is not the body that must undergo the suffering, but the mind. Tapas refers to putting the Rajo and Tamo gunas in your mind, the sense of doership and possessiveness that cling to your mind, through real torture, until they let go their hold. Tapas also means removing the defects that are inherent in the sense organs. This is the real Tapas. There are three types of Tapas; one is the physical Tapas of the body, the second one is the vocal Tapas of the tongue, and the third is mental Tapas.

Physical Tapas refers to using the body to perform good actions, which includes worshipping the Lord and expressing your sense of gratitude by serving great souls. If you earn their grace, tile selfish aspects of ‘I-ness’ and ‘myness’ will slowly get reduced. Once these negative qualities decline, then automatically positive qualities and actions will develop. You will be attracted to, good company to satsangh.  Through that, you will start reading and studying the Gita, the Ramayana, the Upanishads and other such great sacred texts. In addition to this, you will undertake charity for education, for medicine and hospitals, for poor feedings and other good causes. Since you will not be doing any harmful or prohibited activities you will not put yourself under the spell of Rajo and Tamo gunas. You will free yourself from bondage to these two Gunas. All of this can be described as bodily penance or Tapas.

Use the sacred tongue which has been given to you for giving joy and delight to others and for helping them. Do not give any suffering to another’s mind. Use your thoughts to help you concentrate and think of the Lord. Use your tongue to describe all the glorious attributes of the Lord. Use your words, which are highly helpful to others. Use your talk to show the right path to others. You should be able to explain to others all the great and good experiences that you should have had. You will have to correct people if they are going on wrong path by using good words and a sweet tongue. You have to make sure that no amount of falsehood enters your heart or enters your talk. You should become an adept of truth and non-violence.

When you are engaged in the Vocal-type Tapas, difficult situations may arise. You should make every effort to see to it that you escape without uttering any falsehood. Whatever be the circumstances; do not tell a lie. If you cannot tell the truth then you had best keep quiet and observe silence, rather than uttering falsehood. In mental Tapas you will have to develop good thoughts and virtues. Whatever thoughts may be flashing through the mind, your face will show the reflection of them. That is why it is said that the face is the index of the mind. All thoughts will be reflected on your face. If you are grief stricken mentally, your face will reflect that state. If there are sacred thoughts in your mind your face will be very cheerful. The effect of the mind and its thoughts can easily be seen in this way. You should exercise control over your thoughts. At least for a few hours a day you should observe silence. Then the mind will get some rest from words and thought waves. Repetition of the holy name and concentration on the Lord can also be practised to give some rest to the mind.

Good thoughts, good feelings and good actions go a long way to bring about inner cleanliness. Tapas truly means bringing about a physical, vocal and mental unity by letting actions, words and thoughts become one. This is the real Tapas. Tapas refers to destroying the Rajo and Tamo gunas, the passionate and slothful natures, by merging these into the one harmonious Sattva Guna. Truth and purity are the real instruments for doing Tapas. (DBG, pp. 77-79)

People sometimes interpret Tapas as ascetic practices like standing on one leg or on the head. No, Tapas is not physical contortion. It is the complete and correct co-ordination of thought, word and deed. When this is achieved, the splendour of fire will manifest. (SSS Vol.11, p. 153)

Tapas does not mean positioning oneself upside down, head on the ground and feet held up, like a bat. Nor is it the renunciation of possessions and properties, wife and children arid emaciating one’s body, holding the nose to regulate breath. Physical actions, oral assertions and mental resolves - all three have to be in unison. The thought, the speech and the act, all have to be pure. This is the real Tapas. And they have to be coordinated not by the compulsion of duty. The effort must be undertaken for satisfying one’s inner yearnings, for the contentment of the self. This struggle is the essence of Tapas. (V Vahini, p.57)

The yearning for Truth is Tapas or Asceticism. Since Brahman is won through Tapas, it is referred to as Tapoja (attained by Tapas) and the response from Brahman to the Tapas is described as the Word of God (Deva Vak), the Voice of God (Deva Vani). Tapoja literally means ‘born of Tapas’, but this does not imply that the Cosmic Self (Brahman) was non-existent, it has no Beginning, Time does not affect it, ‘Born of Tapas’ means that ‘it revealed itself to the; person who underwent the Tapas’, it ever is it has willed to be so. It projected itself as the Vak, the Word. The Word is the Mantra of the Veda. So, the Almighty is described in the Veda as the Designer of Mantra (Mantra krit), the Creator of Rishis (Rshi krit), besides the names that occur at some place or other like Self emergent (Svayambhu), Tapoja (born of Tapas) etc. (LKV, pp. 15-16)