तपस्या
Also known as Tapasya (austerity)
Tapas is the practice of austerity, whose fruit the Bhagavata sets as negligible against the granting of fearlessness to the jiva. At SB 3.7.41 Vidura says: 'sarve vedAsh cha yaj~nAsh cha tapo dAnAni cha anagha / jIvAbhaya-pradAnasya na kurvIran kalAm api' — all the Vedas, the sacrifices, austerity and gifts do not amount to even a fraction of granting fearlessness. At SB 3.7.20 the converse is said: for one of little austerity, service in the ways of Vaikuntha is hard to attain. Both statements use one measure — austerity is weighed by the end it serves.
Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa 3.7.34 — Sanskrit Wikisource (pinned chapter page; Devanagari from the cross-validated transcription in validation/sanskrit_skandha3.json)
At SB 3.7.41 Vidura says: 'sarve vedAsh cha yaj~nAsh cha tapo dAnAni cha anagha / jIvAbhaya-pradAnasya na kurvIran kalAm api' — all the Vedas, the sacrifices, austerity and gifts do not amount to even a fraction of granting fearlessness to the jiva. At SB 3.7.20 service in the ways of Vaikuntha is called hard to attain for one of little austerity.
