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SUPREME AUSTERITIES OR PENANCE
(Uttama Tapa Dharma)
'Penance is a cataract that washes away all blemishes
and purges the soul of all karmic matter'
The word 'tap' (Penance or Austerity) is derived from the root 'tap' by the addition of the suffix 'ach'. The word austerity conveys the sense - to vanquish the enemies of soul; heating agent to purify the real self; that which burns and annihilates the karmic matter; penance; and rigorous religious meditation.
Penance is an easy medium to lead a living being towards spiritual uplift. All the great men born in the world so far became great only by practicing austerity. Penance is an extremely significant function of life. Those who adopt austerity in life sail across the ocean of the world smoothly i.e. get rid of the cycle of birth and death. Austerity is the only path to attain liberation.
Nothing can be gain in life without austerity. The sun goes through heat and fire; that is why it supplies light and warmth to one and all. Likewise, the moon and the stars undergo austerity in their own way. No work is fulfilled in the world without penance. If the sun had not been hot, the land would not have become fertile; for in the absence of sunrays, no existence of any vegetation would have been possible on the earth. Every vegetation prepares its food itself from the soil by absorbing the sunrays. In 'Kurul Kavya' Acharya Kundkund Swami has also said, "The more heat the land gets, the more fertile it becomes. The seeds sown at that place become capable of germinating very soon and bearing fruits quickly. The sun's own heating is essential for it."
Tapa (penance) is of two folds;
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