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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00020 May 2006

 
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Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

Many a times, there is a discussion in the lists about doing "sandhyaa 
vandhanam" - the nithya karma anushtaanam - the daily routine or a daily ritual 
to be done. Whether this sandhya can be done in this way, at this time, etc. 
Rarely [or can I say practically nil] there is a discussion about how to do 
thapas or in tamil 'thavam' - penance or serious meditation or a special 
religious observance which also calls for a self imposed 'punishment?' Is it 
because of the last word in the previous sentence that nobody is willing to 
even discuss about that - leave alone doing that?

That is why I thought I can initiate a discussion on what is the definition of 
'thavam' or thapas and / or how to do it etc. Even to initiate a discussion 
there should be some material to start with. So here it is. First, the word's 
meaning from Monier Williams Sanskrit English dictionary. 

tapas 
                tápas n. warmth, heat (pañca tapa?si, the 5 fires to which a 
devotee exposes himself in the hot season, viz. 4 fires lighted in the four 
quarters and the sun burning from above Mn. vi, 23 R. BhP. iv BrahmaP 
                * Ragh. 
<http://students.washington.edu/prem/mw/worksAuthorsAbbrs.html> xiii, 41) RV. 
AV. VS. Sa?khSr 
                * pain, suffering RV. vii, 82, 7 
                * religious austerity, bodily mortification, penance, severe 
meditation, special observance (e.g. 'sacred learning' with Brahmans, 
'protection of subjects' with Kshatriyas, 'giving alms to Brahmans' with 
Vaisyas, 'service' with Sudras, and 'feeding upon herbs and roots' with rishis 
Mn. xi, 236) RV. ix, 113, 2 
                * x (personified, 83, 2 f. & 101, 1, 'father of Manyu' RAnukr.) 
AV. &c 
                * (m. L.) N. of a month intervening between winter and spring 
VS. TS. i SBr.iv Susr. Pa?. 4-4, 128 Vartt. 2 Pat. Sis. vi, 63 
                * the hot season L. Sch 
                * == ?po-loka Vedântas. 120 
                * the 9th lunar mansion (dharma) VarB?. i, 19 ; ix, 1 and 4 
                * N. of a Kalpa period, VavuP. i, 21, 27 

After getting the meaning as given above, then I started looking for who is the 
person who has done this 'thapas' so nicely. Immediate source for a simple 
search to begin for me is to look into "the Sree VishNu Sahasra Naamam - SVSN". 

Yeah - I got it. He, that supreme lord himself, is addressed as "mahaa thapas" 
and "su thapas" in SVSN. So he must have done that thapas nicely. That is why 
he is being addressed so. So now let me see the naamaas and their meaning as 
given by Sri Bhattar.

1. Om mahaa thapasE nama: -- naamaa no.123 occurring in slokam 13
meaning: he endowed with great thapas. 
thapas has 3 meanings 
        *       jnaanam - knowledge, 
        *       aisvaryam - prosperity, 
        *       prathaapam - might

[Thus we note that the meanings differ from dictionary meanings given above]. 

In further elaboration the commentator Sri bhattar adds.
"One who is endowed with great 'knowledge'? thapas is given the meaning "great 
knowledge" based on muNdaka upanishad - yasya ~jnaanamayam thapa: - Whose 
thapas is the nature of knowledge. 
mahath is poojyam - worthy of respect. Here, knowledge is the ability to guide 
people, so that they may be rid of the miseries of the world, which they have 
been having from time immemorial".
[poojyam is not zero - soonyam - but worthy of adoring]
 
2. Om su thapaaya nama: -- naamaa no. 197 occurring in slOkam 21
meaning: one who has glorious thapas - of supreme knowledge.
        a)      One who is possessed of supreme knowledge?
        b)      One with consistent creative thinking. 

Sri Bhattar interprets thapas as knowledge, and gives the first interpretation 
above [as in the above naama 123]. 

Sri Sankara uses the following from mahaabhaaratham - 
manasa: cha indhriyaaNaam cha hi Ekaagriyam paramam thapa: 
meaning: The concentration of mind and senses is called supreme thapas (MB 
12.242.4).  

Sri chinmayananda gives the following support from the upanishad - 
sa thapa: thapthvaa idham EthadhasRjath 
meaning: He thought, and through thought He created all this. 

The author in dharma chakram points out that the strength derived from thapas 
is more powerful than any other strength, and gives the example of how sage 
visvaamithra's army was powerless against vasishTha's thapo-Sakthi. It was 
through thapas that visvaamithra ultimately attained brahma-j~naanam, and it 
was through thapas that dhruva attained the immortal position. Lord vishNu is 
thapas-incarnate (su thapaa:), and thus guides His devotees in the path of 
thapas. 

Sri sathyadev vasishTha interprets thap to mean the ability to bear ('kles kaa 
sahnaa' in Hindi). The example of a mother just bearing the strain of an unborn 
child for 9 months so she can bring out the child to this world, is but a 
reflection of bhagavaan's su-thapa or His bearing the thEjas of the likes of 
sun so that it can bring out the good for the beings of this world, without 
burning them with its heat etc. So bhagavaan is the mahaa-thapasvee. 

The commentary on the naamaas are taken from Sri M.K.Krishnaswamy's web site on 
SVSN. Ok. After doing this much search, getting at the meaning of the two 
naamaas, what next?

Doing something to start that thapas? Yes - so that HE himself helps his 
devotees to do that thapas. What to do? How to make a beginning? While doing 
that search, I got this paasuram. 

uRum kaNdaai nannenjE uththaman naRpaadham
uRum kaNdaai oNkamalam thannaal uRum kaNdaai
Eththip paNindhu avan pEr eerainnooRu eppozhudhum
saaRRi uraiththal thavam - 77 iraNdaam thiruvandhaadhi

nannenjE - nalla nenjE - hey, my good mind
uththaman naRpaadham - the good and sacred feet of that supreme lord - purusha 
uththaman [ haa - another naama in SVSN] 
uRum kaNdaai - will get you to see for yourself
oNkamalam thannaal - using the lotus 
saaRRi Eththip paNindhu - placed [at his feet], praise and bow [to that lord]
avan pEr - his name
eerainnooRu - iraNdu aindhu nooRu - two five hundreds == to 1000
eppozhudhum - always
uraiththal - uttering
thavam - penance - thapas [in Sanskrit]

summary: hey my mind - recite or read or repeat his 1000 names always of that 
supreme lord and that is 'thavam'. while doing so place the lotus at those 
sacred feet and bow to those sacred feet of the lord and - through that 
'thavam' you will get all what you want. 

Now take the line 'avan pEr eerainnooRu eppozhudhum uraiththal thavam' only - 
'reading or reciting his 1000 naamaas always is the penance'.

Dear bhakthaas, did we get a simple and easy step of what to do? Or in simple 
terms - how to do that 'thavam'? 

As said by aazhvaar - recite Sree VishNu Sahsara Naamam and that is the 
penance. When aazhvaar said so, do we need a second opinion? 

If you are not convinced please read the paasuram again. And can we have the 
discussion further on thavam?

Dhasan
Vasudevan M.G.





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