thavam

[Guest guest]

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. [PraNavam] 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. [PraNavam] 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.

 

PS: This is just a line of thought that came after reading the summary of speech of our respected Sri Anbil Ramaswamy on SVSN received though the lists a few days back.

 

 

 

 

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