Thank you Nagaraj. How do interpret the appositional relation between śrānta 
and tapta?

> On Aug 28, 2024, at 2:24 AM, Nagaraj Paturi <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Brihadaranyaka Upanishad uses the word tap in both the senses of burning and 
> deep meditation connecting the two meanings into one. It uses the words 
> s'raanta and tapta sequentially hinting at a synonimity between them. 
> 
> asya śrāntasya taptasya tejoraso niravartatāgniḥ || BrhUp_1,2.2 ||
> 
> so 'kāmayata -- bhūyasā yajñena bhūyo yajeyeti |
> so 'śrāmyat |
> sa tapo 'tapyata |
> tasya śrāntasya taptasya yaśo vīryam udakrāmat |
> prāṇā vai yaśo vīryam |
> tat prāṇeṣūtkrānteṣu śarīraṃ śvayitum adhriyata |
> tasya śarīra eva mana āsīt || BrhUp_1,2.6 ||
> 
> tasmāt sarvadevatyaṃ prokṣitaṃ prājāpatyam ālabhante |
> eṣa vā aśvamedho ya eṣa tapati |
> tasya saṃvatsara ātmā |
> 
> On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 1:50 PM 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+Wed,+Aug+28,+2024+at+05:29,+Howard+Resnick+via+INDOLOGY+%3C%3Ca+href=>>
>>  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
>> 
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> 
> 
> --
> 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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