Page 77 - Shri Venkateswara Book

cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy and nonviolence.
Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that
are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to
others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature.
And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and
purification of one’s existence are the austerities of
the mind. This threefold austerity, performed with
transcendental faith by men not expecting material
benefits but engaged only for the sake of the
Supreme, is called austerity in goodness. (Bg 17. 14-
18) Vedavati did not perform tapasya for her material
benefit. She sincerely wanted to serve Lord Vishnu
without any consideration of personal gain.

Another example of real tapasya is Arjuna. He felt
great discomfort fighting in the terrible battle of
Kuruksetra. He didn’t want to fight against his own
revered family members. Arjuna foresaw the terrible
carnage the fighting would cause in terms of human
suffering and loss. Yet, he realized that it was the
desire of Lord Krishna that he defend the principles
of dharma (righteous principles of spirituality). After
hearing the entire Bhagavad-gita from Krishna,
Arjuna abandoned his own personal considerations
of gain and loss and began to act only for the purpose
of satisfying the desire of the Lord.

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