TAPASAH

II. 43 kaya indriya siddhih ashuddhi kshayat tapasah

"kaya" = of the physical body

"indriya" = active and cognitive senses

"siddhih" = attainment, mastery, perfection

"ashuddhi" = of impurities

"kshayat" = removal, destruction, elimination

"tapasah" = ascetic devotion, a burning desire to reach perfection, that which burns all impurities, self-discipline

Self-discipline (tapas) burns away impurities and kindles the sparks of divinity

Self-discipline destroys all impurities, perfecting the body, mind and senses, so that consciousness functions freely and attains divinity.

Ahimsa cannot be properly understood without reference to tapas. Tapas is the inner himsa (violence) by which we create the possibility of outer ahimsa

Ahimsa cannot exist alone. A complementary force must necessarily exist

Mahatma Gandhi would never have been able to summon up the implacable peacefulness which moved an empire, without his ruthless attitude towards his own self. Violence is perhaps too strong a word for tapas, but it is a burning inner zeal and austerity, a sort of unflagging hardness of attitude towards oneself which makes possible compassion and forgiveness towards others