अशास्त्रविहितं घोरं तप्यन्ते ये तपो जनाः । दम्भाहंकारसंयुक्ताः कामरागबलान्विताः ॥
aśāstra-vihitaṃ ghoraṃ tapyante ye tapo janāḥ | dambhāhaṃkāra-saṃyuktāḥ kāma-rāga-balānvitāḥ ||
Those who practice ghora tapas without śāstric sanction, driven by dambha, ahaṃkāra, kāma and rāga — āsurī tapas.
Word by word (3)
- aśāstra-vihitaṃ ghoraṃ tapyante ye tapo janāḥ
- — those people (ye janāḥ) who practice (tapyante) terrible/fierce (ghoram) austerity (tapas) not prescribed/enjoined by śāstra (aśāstra-vihitam) — unauthorized extreme self-mortification
- dambhāhaṃkāra-saṃyuktāḥ
- — combined with (saṃyuktāḥ) hypocrisy (dambha) and egoism (ahaṃkāra) — two āsurī qualities from Ch.16 reappearing as motivations for this distorted tapas
- kāma-rāga-balānvitāḥ
- — endowed with (anvitāḥ) the power/force (bala) of kāma (desire) and rāga (attachment/passion) — desire and attachment as the hidden energies powering this supposedly ascetic practice
Those who practice terrible austerities not prescribed by scripture, given to hypocrisy and egoism, powered by desire and passion — (these people...V6 continues)
A modern analogy
Someone who fasts publicly, posts about it, and secretly feels superior to those who don't — their 'austerity' is energized by dambha (display) and ahaṃkāra (ego-pride). The body suffers but the ego grows. V5 describes this paradox: the more extreme the outward practice, the more entrenched the inner āsurī drives.
V5-6 form a pair: V5 describes the character motivations of distorted tapas; V6 gives the consequence (torturing elements of the body and the indwelling God). This connects back to Ch.16 V16-18: āsurī people driven by dambha-ahaṃkāra perform rituals corruptly. Here it is tapa that is corrupted. The common thread: genuine virtues (tapas, yajña, dāna) can all be corrupted by wrong guṇa-śraddhā.
Aśāstra-vihita (not prescribed by śāstra) is the key qualifier — it doesn't say 'austerity is bad' but 'unauthorized extreme austerity driven by ego and desire is bad.' Ch.17 V14-19 will lay out what sāttvic tapas looks like: austere but balanced, without violence to the body, dedicated to God, not for social display. The contrast with V5's ghora tapas will be complete.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Those men who practise terrific austerities not enjoined by the scripture, given to hypocrisy and egotism, endued with the strength of lust and passion; [1]
Those men who practise terrific austerities not enjoined by the scriptures, given to hypocrisy and egoism, endued with the strength of lust and passion; [4]
Those men who practise terrific austerities not enjoined by scripture, given to hypocrisy and egoism, endued with strength of desire and passion; [9]
Those people who practice severe ascetic austerities not ordained by the scriptures, are given up to hypocrisy and pride, and endued with desire of attachment and violence. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
OṀ Tat Sat: triple name of Brahman — by which brāhmaṇas, Vedas, and yajñas were ordained in the beginning.
Whatever is sacrificed, given, done, or tapas practiced without śraddhā — that is asat: naught here or hereafter.
Sāttvic tapas: the three-fold tapas practiced with supreme śraddhā, without fruit-desire, by the disciplined.
Three-fold impulse to action: knowledge, knowable, knower. Three-fold action-structure: organ, act, agent.
Greed, restless activity, and longing surge — know that rajas is predominant and karma-saṅga is binding.
They torture their body's elements AND Me who dwell within — know these fools to be of āsurī resolve.