KIRAN ATMA: tapas

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Hinduism - Who Is Vishvamitra In The Hindu Pantheon?

One of the Seven Sages in Hindu mythology, whose names denote exogamous clan "lineages" (gotra; exogamous clans allow members to marry outside their own clan); the others are Gautama, Bharadvaja, Kashyapa, Bhrgu, Atri, and Vasishtha.

All brahmins are said to be descended from these seven sages, with each family receiving their progenitor's name as their gotra name.

Marriage inside the gotra is outlawed in contemporary times, thus these gotra divides are still crucial.

The new bride takes on her husband's gotra as part of her new identity after their marriage.

Vishvamitra is most well-known for his long-running quarrel with the sage Vasishtha, which has resulted in several battles.

The rivalry arises because of the kshatriyas and brahmins' differing social position.

Vishvamitra is a king who visits the woodland ashram of the brahmin Vasishtha with a contingent of retainers.

Vishvamitra is astounded by Vasishtha's cow, the Kama dhenu's capacity to feed everyone when he requests food.

Vishvamitra attempts to purchase the Kamadhenu first, then tries to seize it by force, but Vasishtha's tapas defeats his henchmen (ascetic practices).

Vishvamitra acknowledges defeat and undertakes ascetic activities in order to generate his own strength.

Two of their most famous fights are over King Trishanku and his son, Harishchandra; in both cases, the actual problem is the sages' mutual hatred.

Marriage bans may also be referred to in this context.

~ Kiran Atma

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Hinduism - What Is Tapas?

(“heat”) Term for any kind of physical asceticism, or what was formerly known as "mortification of the flesh."

Fasting (upavasa) and celibacy, as well as rituals of enduring physical agony, such as the "five flames" (panchagni) rite, are all included in the word tapas.

During this ceremony, a person sits in the hot season, surrounded by four flames, with the sun above representing the fifth fire.

Other ceremonies include suffering cold through bathing (snana) in snow-fed rivers, as well as enduring any kind of bodily hardship.

Tapas may also refer to strange and even masochistic habits such as standing for years on end; holding an arm lifted until the muscles atrophy and it can no longer be lowered; resting on thorn and nail beds, and so forth.

All of these activities are based on the notion that they produce spiritual strength (which is referred to as "heat"), and that a person who develops and accumulates enough of this force would attain supernormal abilities or the capacity to demand boons from the gods themselves.

Even while many modern Hindus are wary of and condemn extreme practices, there is still a huge cultural regard for ascetic self-control, and when paired with the appropriate personality, such activities may give significant religious power.

In Hindu mythology, Indra, the god-king, keeps a watchful eye on individuals who accumulate such abilities in order to safeguard himself from being supplanted by someone more powerful.

Because of the "heat" created by the tapas, Indra's celestial throne gets heated when an ascetic begins to collect enough strength to unseat him.

Indra must locate the aspirant and defuse the force in one of two ways: by bestowing a blessing on the aspirant, which is often the motivation for doing the tapas in the first place, or by sending a heavenly nymph (apsara) to seduce the ascetic, whose power will be released along with his semen.

This legend represents the core Hindu notion that celibacy, which conserves a man's vital energy by conserving his sperm, is the beginning point for ascetic strength.

~Kiran Atma

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Hinduism - Who Is Taraka In Hindu Mythology?

In Hindu mythology, a powerful demon who undergoes such great physical asceticism (tapas) that he is granted the benefit of being able to be destroyed only by the deity Shiva's son.

Because Shiva is immersed in meditation and still mourning for his slain wife Sati, this boon seems to render Taraka invulnerable.

Taraka gets more strong and arrogant throughout time, finally defeating the gods in battle and exiling them from heaven.

In their despair, the gods turn to Kama, the god of love, and ask him to shoot Shiva with a desire arrow so that he can marry the goddess Parvati and thus bring Taraka's death about.

Shiva, on the other hand, burns Kama to ash with a stream of fire from his third eye before he can shoot.

Shiva marries Parvati later in life, and their son, Skanda, defeats Taraka in battle.

~Kiran Atma

You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.

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Hinduism - What Are Superhuman Powers Or Siddhis In Hindu Spirituality?

Widely seen as achievable, either by voluntary physical austerity (tapas) or as the result of great spiritual accomplishment.

Superhuman Powers are often referred to as Siddhis.

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Supernatural Powers Of Yogis - Yogic Luminescence, Asceticism, And Psychic Power

Long before the word yoga came to mean "spirituality" or "spiritual path," He compelled the Gods to grant His request that the heavenly river Ganges (Ganga) release its waters to flood and regenerate the parched earth by raising his arms high.

The archetypal ascetic (tapasvin) of the Vedic period is the ecstatic muni, not the obedient householder-sacrificer or even the elevated seer (rishi).

The muni is part of what is known as the Vedic counterculture, which consists of religious people and organizations (such as the Vratyas) that followed their holy goals outside of Vedic society.

The muni has been referred to be the forerunner of the later yogi? in that he resembles a lunatic in his euphoric oblivion.

Many aspects of his lifestyle foreshadow the later avadhuta's unconventional conduct, which is celebrated in the Avadhuta-Gita and other medieval Sanskrit writings.

Tapas has survived as a separate tradition from Yoga.

The Mahabharata epic, for example, documents this simultaneous growth.

Many famous tapasvins' tales are told, including Vyasa, Vishvamitra, Vashishtha, Cyavana, Bharadvaja, Bhrigu, and Uttanka.

Indeed, the tradition of tapas is given precedence over Yoga in several sections of the epic, indicating the passages' early antiquity.

Tapas is usually achieved via chastity (brahmacarya) and the subjection of the senses (indriya-jaya).

The inherent tendencies of the body-mind are believed to produce psychophysical effulgence (tejas), brightness (jyotis), tremendous power (ba/a), and vitality (ba/a) (vfrya).

Since Vedic times, another word strongly associated with asceticism is ojas (apparently related to the Latin a dt ustus, "majestic").

It refers to a certain kind of numinous energy that energizes the whole body and mind.

Ojas is produced primarily via the discipline of chastity, as a consequence of sexual energy being sublimated.

It is said to be so powerful that the ascetic may influence and alter his or her own fate as well as the fate of others.

According to the Atharva-Veda, the deities attained immortality by practicing chastity and austerities.

Tapas is typically associated with the acquisition of psychic powers (siddhi), which often proved to be the downfall of unwise ascetics who abused their extraordinary abilities.

The Tapas tradition unfolded against the backdrop of a magical worldview in which the cosmos is filled with personalized sources of psychic power, both in the Vedic Age and the Epic Age (virya).

He also names tapas as one of the five observances or restrictions (niyama) and claims that austerity perfects the body and its senses.

Tapas is clearly limited to the role of a warm-up exercise in this context.

Yoga is primarily concerned with meditation and its enhanced form, ecstatic transcendence (samadhi).

For millennia, the tradition of tapas has coexisted with the schools of Yoga, and this is also the case today.

The hagiography Maharaj tells the extraordinary tale of a modern tapasvin and saint who supposedly lived for years.

Tapasviji Maharaj, the story's protagonist, was born into a royal family but abandoned everything in his late fifties and girded himself with a loincloth.

He was regarded as a powerful ascetic and miracle worker throughout his lifetime.

He achieved incredible feats of endurance, overcoming both pain and boredom.

He stood on one leg with one arm extended skyward for three years, then never laid down for another twenty-four years while traveling several kilometers every day.

This saint drew a lot of attention in the United States because of his extraordinary lifespan, which he said was due to his receiving the kaya-kalpa or renewing therapy known to traditional Indian medicine three times.

The effectiveness of this therapy is mainly determined on the patient's temperament, since he or she must be able to tolerate extended periods of near-complete isolation.