Greetings Michael, Thank you for mentioning an important type of tapas practiced by the chaste wife. This reminds me of the Gītā 17.14:
deva-dvija-guru-prājña-pūjanaṃ śaucam ārjavam brahmacaryam ahiṃsā ca śārīraṃ tapa ucyate It seems that brahmacaryam, celibacy, as a śārīram tapaḥ, bodily austerity, can be compared to the self-control of the chaste woman or wife. Thanks again, Howard > On Aug 28, 2024, at 2:25 PM, michael baltutis via INDOLOGY > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Greetings Howard and All, > > Recall the related example of the tapas of Sita in the Ramayana. I copy and > paste the following passage from my new introduction to Hinduism (Baltutis > 2024: 106): > > Kidnapped by Ravan and taken captive to his capital of Lanka, she contrasts > his awful behavior with that of the righteous Ram (dharma-atman), reminding > Ravan of (and threatening him with) both her shri and her shakti. She tells > Ravan: > > It is only because I have not been so ordered by Rama and because I wish to > preserve intact the power of my austerities (tapas) that I do not reduce you > to ashes with my own blazing power (tejas), for that is what you deserve. > (5.20.20 [Goldman and Sutherland Goldman 2021: 469]) > > In this threat, Sita combines social and cultural categories that are often > kept separate. As a woman concerned with doing her wifely duties, she saves > the demise of Ravan for her husband Ram, a warrior, king, and avatar of > Vishnu who regularly relieves the earth of its burden of demonic evil. At the > same time, however, she has accumulated through her performance of domestic > duties the tapas and tejas that male renouncers typically earn through > powerful yogic practices. > > Best, > Michael > > Michael Baltutis > Professor, South Asian Religions > Chair, Department of Anthropology, Global Religions and Cultures > <https://uwosh.edu/anthropology/faculty-staff/> > University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh > Book Review Editor, International Journal of Hindu Studies > What is Hinduism?: A Student's Introduction > <https://www.routledge.com/What-is-Hinduism-A-Students-Introduction/Baltutis/p/book/9781138326088> > The Festival of Indra <https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/The-Festival-of-Indra> > > > > > On Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 10:08:57 AM CDT, Michaels, Prof. Dr. Axel > via INDOLOGY <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > I guess you know the following study (in German): Monika Shee: tapas und > tapasvin in der erzählenden Partien des Mahābhārata. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Inge > Wezler, 1986. > It’s a detailed philological study. Pp. 204-14 (“tapas, yoga, saṃnyāsa” and > ”tapas und Magie”) seem to be especially instructive for your question. If > you need a scan, don’t hesitate to let it me know. > Best wishes, > Axel / Michaels > > > From: INDOLOGY <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of > "[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>" > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Reply to: Patrick Olivelle <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> > Date: Wednesday, 28. August 2024 at 16:12 > To: Matthew Kapstein <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Cc: "[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>" > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] tapasya > > There is also the book by Walter O. Kaelber, Tapta Mārga.  > Tapta Marga: Asceticism and Initiation in Vedic India > <https://www.amazon.com/Tapta-Marga-Asceticism-Initiation-Vedic-India/dp/0887068138> > amazon.com > <https://www.amazon.com/Tapta-Marga-Asceticism-Initiation-Vedic-India/dp/0887068138> > > > > > On Aug 28, 2024, at 3:20 AM, 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%20Wed,%20Aug%2028,%202024%20at%2005:29,%20Howard%20Resnick%20via%20INDOLOGY%20%3c%3ca%20href=>> > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology > > > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology  > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
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