Tapas (Sanskrit: तपस्, romanized: tapas) is a variety of austere spiritual meditation practices in Indian religions. In Jainism, it means asceticism (austerities, body mortification); in Buddhism, it denotes spiritual practices including meditation and self-discipline; and in the different traditions within Hinduism it means a spectrum of practices ranging from asceticism, 'inner cleansing' to self-discipline by meditation practices.Lowitz, L., & Datta, R. (2004). Sacred Sanskrit Words: For Yoga, Chant, and Meditation. Stone Bridge Press, Inc.; see Tapas or tapasya in Sanskrit means, the conditioning of the body through the proper kinds and amounts of diet, rest, bodily training, meditation, etc., to bring it to the greatest possible state of creative power. It involves practicing the art of controlling materialistic desires to attain moksha.Yoga, Meditation on Om, Tapas, and Turiya in the principal Upanishads , ChicagoSanskrit-English phrases, France; tapas, tapa and tap on page 28 The Tapas practice often involves solitude and is a part of monastic practices that are believed to be a means to moksha (liberation, salvation).
In the Vedas literature of Hinduism, fusion words based on tapas are widely used to expound several spiritual concepts that develop through heat or inner energy, such as meditation, any process to reach special observations and insights, the spiritual ecstasy of a yogin or Tāpasa (a vṛddhi derivative meaning "a practitioner of austerities, an ascetic"), even warmth of sexual intimacy.Kaelber, W. O. (1976). "Tapas", Birth, and Spiritual Rebirth in the Veda, History of Religions, 15(4), 343-386 In certain contexts, the term means penance, pious activity, as well as severe meditation.Monier William's Sanskrit-English Dictionary, 2nd Ed. 1899, Tapas
Etymology and meaning
Tapas is based on the root Tap (तप्) meaning "to heat, to give out warmth, to shine, to burn". The term evolved to also mean "to suffer, to mortify the body, undergo penance" in order to "burn away past karma" and liberate oneself. The term Tapas means "warmth, heat, fire".
The meaning of the word evolves in ancient Indian literature. The earliest discussions of tapas, and compound words from the root tap relate to the heat necessary for biological birth.Walter O. Kaelber (May, 1976), "Tapas, Birth, and Spiritual Rebirth in the Veda", History of Religions, Vol. 15, No. 4, page 344-345M. Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964), page 410 Its conceptual origin is traced to the natural wait, motherly warmth and physical "brooding" provided by birds such as a hen upon her eggs - a process that is essential to hatching and birth. The Vedic scholars used mother nature's example to explain and extend this concept to the hatching of knowledge and spiritual rebirth.Walter O. Kaelber (May, 1976), "Tapas, Birth, and Spiritual Rebirth in the Veda," History of Religions, Vol. 15, No. 4, pages 343, 358
Some of the earliest reference of tapas, and compound words from the root tap is found in many ancient Hindu scriptures, including the Rig Veda (10.154.5), Shatapatha Brahmana (5.3 - 5.17), and Atharva Veda (4.34.1, 6.61.1, 11.1.26). In these texts, tapas is described as the process that led to the spiritual birth of ṛṣis - sages of spiritual insights. The Atharva Veda suggests all the gods were tapas-born (tapojās), and all earthly life was created from the sun's tapas (tapasah sambabhũvur).Atharva Veda, 8.1.10 In the Jāiminiya-Upanisad Brāhmaṇa, life perpetuates itself and creates progeny by tapas, a process that starts with sexual heat.H. Oldenberg, Die Weltanschauung der Brahmana-Texts, Göttingen: Bandenhöck und Ruprecht, 1919H. Oertel, "The Jaiminiya-Upanisad Brahmana," Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 16 (1896)
Sanskrit tapasyā (neuter gender), literally "produced by heat", refers to a personal endeavor of discipline, undertaken to achieve a goal. One who undertakes tapas is a Tapasvin. The fire deity in Hinduism, Agni, is central to many Hindu rituals such as yajna and homa. Agni is considered an agent of heat, of sexual energy, of incubation; Agni is considered a great tapasvin.A. B. Keith (1914), The Veda of the Black Yajus School Entitled Taittiriya Saihitd, 2 vols., Harvard University Press; Also: H. Oldenberg (1964), "The Grihya Sutras", Sacred Books of the East, 2 vols., Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi; see 1.7.25.1, 7.1.1.28
The word tapasvi refers to a male ascetic or meditator, while tapasvinī to a female.
Buddhism
Before he reached his enlightenment, the Buddha tried asceticism (self-mortification) of the type found in other Śramaṇa religions (Jainism), and this is referred to as Tapas (Tibetan: dka' thub, Chinese: kuxing, Japanese: kugyo, Korean: kohaeng).Randall Collins (2000), The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change, Harvard University Press, , page 204 Post-enlightenment, the Buddhist doctrines of the Middle Way and Noble Eightfold Path did not include ascetic practices.
The Buddha, in multiple Buddhist texts, such as Majjhima Nikāya and Devadaha Sutta, attributes the ascetic self-mortification style Tapas practices to Jainism (Niganthas), wherein such practices annihilate past Karmas and stop new Karmas from being created, ones that lead to the cycle of rebirths in Saṃsāra. These ancient Buddhist texts are significant in their claims of the existence of Jain Brahmins and ascetics, along with their karma doctrine and reasons for their Tapas practices in ancient times:
These ascetic Tapas practices is also confirmed by Jainism texts such as Uttarajjhyayana. The Buddhist scholar Dharmakirti strongly criticizes the Jaina practice of Tapas as a means of liberation, while many Jainism scholars have in turn strongly criticized Dharmakirti opinion and analysis, explaining why their approach to ascetic Tapas is appropriate.
According to Hajime Nakamura and other scholars, some scriptures of early Buddhism suggest that ascetic Tapas was a part of Buddhist practice in its early days, wherein body-mortification was an option for the Buddhist monk in his spiritual practice.
In the Theravada tradition of Thailand, a monastic practice emerged in the 12th century who did Tapas as ascetic wandering and forest or crematory dwelling monks, with austere practices, and these came to be known as Thudong. These ascetic Buddhist monks are also found in Myanmar, and as in Thailand, they are known to pursue their own version of Buddhism, resisting the hierarchical institutionalized sangha structure of monasteries in Buddhism. Textual evidence suggests that asceticTapas practices were a part of the Buddhist tradition in Sri Lanka by the 3rd century BCE, and this tradition continued through the medieval era in parallel to sangha style monastic tradition.
In the Mahayana tradition, asceticism with esoteric and mystical meanings became an accepted practice, such as in the Tendai and Shingon schools of Japanese Buddhism. These Japanese practices included penance, austerities, ablutions under a waterfall, and rituals to purify oneself. Japanese records from the 12th century record stories of monks undertaking severe asceticism, while records suggest that 19th century Nichiren Buddhist monks woke up at midnight or 2:00 AM daily, and performed ascetic water purification rituals as a part of Tapas. Other practices include the extreme ascetic practices of eating only pine needles, resins, seeds and ultimately self-mummification, while alive, or Sokushinbutsu (miira) in Japan.Ichiro Hori (1962), Self-Mummified Buddhas in Japan. An Aspect of the Shugen-Dô ("Mountain Asceticism") Sect, History of Religions, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Winter, 1962), pages 222-242
Elsewhere, in mainstream Buddhism, over time the meaning of the word Tapas evolved, wherein ascetic penance was forsaken, and Tapas meant meditative and spiritual practices.
The word Tapas appears extensively in Buddhist literature where, states Richard Gombrich, it does not mean "asceticism or mortification". The term Tapas means "meditation" or "reasoned moral self discipline" or both in Buddhism. According to Bailey and Mabbett, these Buddhist ideas are similar to those found in the Brahmanical (Vedic) tradition, wherein there is a great deal of overlap in the concepts of Tapas, Yoga, meditation and gnosis (knowledge), yet the term Tapas is rooted in the inner "mystic heat" themes of the Indian religions.
Hinduism History The earliest mention of Tapas is in the Vedic texts. The concept of Tapas as symbolism for spiritual rebirth begins in the Vedas.M. Eliade, Rites and Symbols of Initiation, Harper and Row, New York, pages 53-57H. Lommel (1955), "Wiedergeburt aus Embryonalem Zustand in der Symbolic des Altindische Rituals," in Tod, Auferstehung, Weltordnung, ed. C. Hentze; Origo, Zurich, Switzerland Atharva Veda verse 11.5.3 compares the process of spiritual rebirth of a student in care of his or her teacher, with the gestation process during the biological birth of a baby in a mother's womb.M. Bloomfield (1964), "Hymns of the Atharva Veda," Sacred Books of the East, Motilal Banarsidas, DelhiWalter O. Kaelber (May, 1976), "Tapas, Birth, and Spiritual Rebirth in the Veda," History of Religions, Vol. 15, No. 4, pages 355-356
Tapas is also found in the Upanishads. The Chāndogya Upaniṣad, for example, suggests that those who engage in ritualistic offerings to gods and priests will fail in their spiritual practice while those who engage in tapas and self-examination will succeed. The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad states that realization of self requires a search for truth and Tapas (meditation).CR Prasad, Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Editor: Knut Jacobsen (2010), Volume II, Brill, , see Article on "Brahman", pp 724-729 The Mundaka Upaniṣad also emphasizes the importance of Tapas as a means to attain spiritual knowledge and realization:
Meditation and achievement of lucid knowledge is declared essential to self-realization in ancient scriptures. Texts by Adi Sankara suggests Tapas is important, but not sufficient for spiritual practice. Later Hindu scholars introduce a discussion of ‘false ascetic’, as one who go through the mechanics of tapas, without meditating on the nature of Brahman. Tapas is an element of spiritual path, state Indian texts.David Carpenter, Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Editor: Knut Jacobsen (2010), Volume II, Brill, , see Article on Tapas, pp 865-869 The concept is extensively mentioned in the Vedas,A Vedic Concordance, Maurice Bloomfield, Harvard University Press, pp. 402-404 and the Upanishads.Upanishad Vakya Kosha - A Concordance of the Principal Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita G.A. Jacob, Motilal Banarsidass, pp. 395-397
According to Walter Kaelber, and others,M. Winternitz (1959), A History of Indian Literature, University of CalcuttaF. Edgerton (1944), The Bhagavad Gita, Harvard Oriental Series, vol. 39, Harvard University Press in certain translations of ancient Sanskrit documents Tapas is interpreted as austerities and asceticism; however, this is frequently inadequate because it fails to reflect the context implied, which is of sexual heat or warmth that incubates the birth of life. The idea of linking austerity, exertion, fatigue and self-renunciation to the ancient idea of heat, brooding and inner devotion, comes from the observed labor every mother puts in caring for its embryo and delivering her baby, regardless of the life form. The concept and reference to 'egg hatching' is replaced in Sanskrit texts written in later centuries, with simply 'brooding' or 'incubation'.P. Deussen (1966), The Philosophy of the Upanishads, Dover Publications, New York, pages 62-71Walter O. Kaelber (May, 1976), "Tapas, Birth, and Spiritual Rebirth in the Veda," History of Religions, Vol. 15, No. 4, pages 347