Tapasya - Penance
H H Maa Purnananda
“Ye Tu Sarvaani Karmaani Mayi Sannyasya Matparaah; Ananyenaiv Yogena Maam Dhyaayant Upaasatey. Teshaamaham Samuddharta Mrityusansaar Saagaraat; Bhavaami Nachiraat Paarth Maiyaaveshit Chetasaam.” – (Sreemad Bhagawad Geeta – 12/6 & 7)
The word “penance” seems to be quite “outdated” or “religious” to most of the modern-world folks. People hear or read about such great individuals of ancient times from the religious scriptures who would have performed some severe penances for their worldly or spiritual achievements. By reading about such penances, the seeker finds himself to be quite incapable of performing any sort of penance, leave aside difficult ones!
Let the seeker be reminded of the kind of Karm Yogexpounded by none other than YogeshwarSree Krishna Himself to His most competent dear disciple Arjun. It surely would come under the category of various kinds of “Tapasya” – “penances” that a seeker could practice for the purpose of self-evolution. In fact, Karm YogSaadhna is the very foundation of the rest of the threeYog-s, that are DhyaanYog, Bhakti Yogand GnyaanYog.
Activity is the signature of life. As long as life is, man has to work. Hence, is it not important to work wisely, purposefully and meaningfully? Is it sufficient to get motivated to work only for satiating desires? Should the driving force behind man to work be his Vaasna-s? This is what initially one has to learn from our Scriptures; the true purpose of life and the greater motivating factor behind any activity in life. Sreemad Bhagawad Geeta covers both very systematically.
In the Shlok given above, SreeBhagawaan says that He becomes the Saviour for those who, with single-pointedness (Yog), surrender completely to Him by prayerfully offering all their deeds to Him. This indeed is the pinnacle of Karm YogSaadhna. When the mind-intellect equipment of a seeker is single-pointedly focused on the Divine, neither there is any possibility of his getting motivated for any wrong-doings, nor can he be deprived of achieving success and victory. Even though success and victory would not be the purpose of his action, he would surely be blessed with both by the Divine in himself.
For past few years, under the auspices of SISS, there has been several such selfless activities that have inspired and elevated number of sincere devotees who have been very regular attendees. This includes Spiritual Retreats, observing Auspicious days by offering Puja-s and Homam-s, MahaAbhishekam of SreeIshwara and most importantly, the regular discourses on complete Sreemad Bhagawad Geeta.
The attendees benefitted greatly by being regular and sincere in studying The Holy Geeta so systematically. Their sincerity has culminated into commencement of a Satyavrat Study Circle at SISS. Moreover, the greatest benefit of theses regular discourses here at SISS has been that the relentless and dedicated hard work of our Trustee Sri Manish Sharma,who has brought out the flawless and beautiful HD Digital Recording and Production of these discourses in English on completeSreemad Bhagawad Geeta.
The good work did not stop there! By the endless grace of the Guru Parampara, this whole BhagawadGeeta has been Telecast as a humble tribute at Their Holy-feet and as a selfless service to the society at large by way of thoughtful contributions offered by our devotees.
For past almost 20 years, I have observed the single-pointedness, of our Trustees and the devotees associated with SISS, towards the selfless service of spreading the Sacred Teachings of our Guru-s in various ways, as one of the best examples of “Tapasya” - “Penance” as mentioned by Sree Krishna in the given Shlok. This truly is ‘activities carried out by Divine motivation’. The Lord Himself has assured that He is the Saviour of such devotees and I have unflinching faith in the Sacred Words of the Lord; may He bless all His selfless devotees!
The series of discourses on Sreemad Bhagawad Geeta and many such elevating and inspiring Vedaantic Texts in digital media are available at SISS.