Page 13 - NAMAH-Jan-2025

Tapasya and Surrender: The Paradoxical Process of Self-
Transformation*

Manoj Pavithran

Abstract
When considering the concept of tapas, a Sanskrit word often translated into English as austerity,
we perceive an active will of concentrated effort. Conversely, the term ‘surrender‘ evokes the
notion of a profound receptive passivity. How do these seemingly contradictory movements, one
active and the other passive, converge in the process of our self-transformation? A simple analogy
to facilitate their integration is to envision surrender as the bridge connecting the human tapas to the
divine tapas.

The Essence of Tapas translates to ‘heat’ or ‘energise’. In the context
of spiritual development, tapas primarily
Tapasya, the Sanskrit term for practising involves an inner movement, a conscious
tapas, embodies the disciplined effort will that gathers scattered and disjointed
towards spiritual self-transformation. thoughts into a focused state, akin to a lens
The etymology of the word, ‘apas’ can be gathering sunlight into a concentrated point
traced back to its Sanskrit root, ‘tap’, which with a specific objective. When our energy is

*This article is based on a presentation delivered by the author during a NAMAH online
programme, ‘Tapasya & Surrender’, that took place in August, 2024.

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