To understand how penances and sacrifices done by one’s own self are more
fruitful and effective than hiring priests to do so we may draw a parallel with going
on a pilgrimage to any holy site. The pilgrim who walks up the ardous path to the
shrine has done more religiously meritorious deed than the pilgrim who hires an air-
conditioned taxi to go there. Though both the persons have gone to the same place
with the same religious value, but the first one is a true ‘pilgrim’ who has walked on
foot, and he is the one who gets more credit points and therefore is better rewarded
than the air-conditioned taxi-riding ‘tourist’.]ÁŸÃ Ÿfl ø⁄UŸ ©U¬¡ •ŸÈ⁄UÊªÊ – Á’‚⁄UË Œ„U 쮄U ◊ŸÈ ‹ÊªÊH 3H
nita nava carana upaja anurāgā. bisarī dēha tapahiṁ manu lāgā. 3.
Every passing day saw renewed affection for the holy feet of the Lord (Shiva)
sprouting in the heart of Uma so much so that gradually she lost consciousness
(awareness) of even the basic comforts of her physical gross body, and instead her
mind and heart (“Mana”) got deeply involved in doing Tapa (for which she had set
out from her home). (3)
[Note—This verse is significant. It underlines the psychological aspects of entering
into enterprise, such as Tapa in this case. When a person sets out from the comfort
zone of his home to achieve his goal in life, he is very enthusiastic in the beginning.
But as soon as he starts to feel the heat of the new path that is not so well-trodden, an
unconventional path that he has chosen he has chosen for himself, his enthusiasm and
zest begins to ebb, and he may become disillusioned and disheartened by initial
hardships and failures. But if he is resolute and firm in his convictions, if he has faith
in himself and his spirit, if he is determined to succeed, then after the initial
hiccoughs all obstacles vanish in thin air and the path clears out of its own for him.
Uma was raised in a king’s household, being pampered and well-looked after.
The initial days were most testing for her. The hardships of living alone in a forest,
being deprived of food and basic physical comforts that she was so accustomed of at
her home, may have made her disillusioned and jittery. But this did not happen. She
was determined to attain Lord Shiva as the only single goal of her life. So what
happened? She succeeded.
The first few days of Tapa life were sort of acclimatization and test for her when
she was to judge for herself if she can actually cope with the rigours of Tapa. ‘Yes,
she could’—she found out to her joy. And from then onwards the journey was much
easier!]
‚¢’à ‚„U‚ ◊Í‹ »§‹ πÊ∞ – ‚ÊªÈ πÊß ‚à ’⁄U· ªflÊ°∞H 4H
∑§¿ÈU ÁŒŸ ÷Ù¡ŸÈ ’ÊÁ⁄U ’ÃÊ‚Ê – Á∑§∞ ∑§ÁΔUŸ ∑§¿ÈU ÁŒŸ ©U¬’Ê‚ÊH 5H
’‹ ¬ÊÃË ◊Á„U ¬⁄Uß ‚ÈπÊß ̧ – ÃËÁŸ ‚„U‚ ‚¢’à ‚Ùß πÊß ̧H 6H
¬ÈÁŸ ¬Á⁄U„U⁄U ‚ÈπÊŸ©U ¬⁄UŸÊ – ©U◊Á„U ŸÊ◊È Ã’ ÷ÿ©U •¬⁄UŸÊH 7H
ŒÁπ ©U◊Á„U ì πËŸ ‚⁄UË⁄UÊ – ’ ̋rÊÔÁª⁄UÊ ÷Ò ªªŸ ª÷Ë⁄UÊH 8H
sambata sahasa mūla phala khā'ē. sāgu khā'i sata baraṣa gavām̐ē. 4.
kachu dina bhōjanu bāri batāsā. ki'ē kaṭhina kachu dina upabāsā. 5.
bēla pātī mahi para'i sukhā'ī. tīni sahasa sambata sō'i khā'ī. 6.
puni pariharē sukhānē'u paranā. umahi nāmu taba bhaya'u aparanā. 7.
dēkhi umahi tapa khīna sarīrā. brahmagirā bhai gagana gabhīrā. 8.