Sri Bharatamata

  Ashtottaram 7

 

 

7) OṀ ṪAPO BHŨMYAINAMAH:

        OṀ (AUM) - ṪA - PO' - BHOO- MYAI- NA--MA- HA

 

 

       (Tapas: means “that which causes suffering”)

 

 

 

The word tapas come from the root-verb ‘tap’ (santāpe, in the sense of suffering). Hence it means any discipline that causes suffering to the body-mind-sense complex. We find the word in the ṚigVeda; there it is interpreted as penances like kṛcchra and meditation on Hiraṇyagarbha. It is also used in the Upanishads like the Chāndogya and the Muṇḍaka in the sense of performance of one’s duties and austerities. The other names used for tapas are: austerity and penance. Tapas also means following dharma (righteousness) without losing the discipline. The Himālayan mountains are our lands of tapas. For thousands of years our ancient ṛishis performed strict austerities and obtained the knowledge of the Self for the welfare of humanity. There is no shortage of rishis, yogis, seers, sages, sādhus, saints, swamis on our sacred land which was very conducive to practice taps. Ṛishis lived at places like Ṛishikesh and Haridwār to fulfill their human pursuits of liberation and achieved their goals and helped the humanity at large without selfishness and greediness which are unfortunately very rampant in the modern world which boasts advanced civilization which is sadly nothing but progress in materialism.

 

The Bhagavadgīta deals with tapas from three angles: śarīra (physical), vāṇmaya (as pertaining to speech) and mānasa (mental). Honorong and serving gods and holy-persons, cleanliness, celibacy and non-violence belong to the first category. Sweet but truthful speech belongs to the second category. Control of mind and purity of emotions are the essential

 

Because of pollution and contamination mostly by tourists, ṛishis are moving deeper and deeper into the forests to perform their austerities. Even though those suitable lands for tapas are still existent, they are becoming fewer and fewer in modern times due to tourisms. Hence thinking that there are no such lands or ṛishis existing only shows ignorance on our part. Such lands are always part of our culture from ancient times. From Himavat and Sriśailam mountain ranges to ‘Śeshāchalam are a few examples to mention where sages and rishis are still living there and performing penances. Because of their power of austerity only, our śastrās and vāṇmayās are being protected. The knowledge obtained by these ṛishis with their intense austerities is the divine knowledge and they passed on that knowledge to us and it is our responsibility to protect and pass on to the future younger generations to come.

 

So our land where ṛishis performed intense austerities is deserved to be called “Tapobhūmi"