Bhagwad Gita - Post 210

Verse 14

Worship of the gods, the twice-born, the teachers and the wise, purity, straightforwardness, celibacy and non-injury—these are called the austerities of the body.

Verse 15

Speech which causes no excitement and is truthful, pleasant and beneficial, the practice of the study of the Vedas, are called austerity of speech.

Verse 16

Serenity of mind, good-heartedness, purity of nature, self-control—this is called mental austerity.

Verse 17

This threefold austerity practised by steadfast men with the utmost faith, desiring no reward, they call Sattwic.

Verse 18

The austerity which is practised with the object of gaining good reception, honor and worship and with hypocrisy, is here said to be Rajasic, unstable and transitory.

Yajna is of three kinds, which have been mentioned. Now we are being told that tapas is also of three kinds. 

Physical tapas

Physical tapas, verbal tapas, and mental tapas are distinguished here by their own peculiar qualities. 

Physical discipline is described here as adoration of divinities, adoration of gods, adoration of learned, wise, spiritual preceptors, self-restraint, control of the ten sense organs, purity, and straightforwardness. If this can be maintained, we are physically restraining ourselves entirely.

Discipline in speech

Our speech also has to be restrained. In the same way as there is a restraint of the body by discipline of this kind, there has to be a discipline of the speech.

As we have discipline of the body, there is discipline of speech. What are these? They are sweet speech—not speaking like a thorn pricking people—truthful speech, kind speech, beneficial speech, and daily study of the holy scriptures, for our own inner illumination. 

Mental Tapas

There is also mental tapas. The discipline of the mind is mental tapas—calmness, composure, satisfaction, happiness, contentment inside. Such a person is always happy, contented, and asks for nothing and says, “Everything is well with me. I want nothing. I am always very happy. I need nothing.” 

We must be very composed in our behavior, delightful for people to see, not putting on an agitated look. 

We should not speak unless it is necessary to speak. We should not speak at all unless it is obligatory on our part to speak at a given moment. It is necessary for us to speak at this moment; therefore, we speak. When speaking is unwarranted and we can keep quiet, we should hold our tongue, and maintain peace in our mind. That is maunam.

Ᾱtmavinigrahaḥ is self-control—the restraint of the lower self by the higher self. Concentrating on the Universality of our selfhood puts a restraint or check on our lower, instinctive self. 

Bhāvasaṁśuddhiḥ: Our motive should always be pure. When we do an action, we must have a pure motive for the benefit of somebody. 

But if it is a concentration of the mind on our own personal, selfish welfare—let anything happen to others, we are not at all concerned with what is happening in the atmosphere around, but we very much are concerned with our own personal, physical welfare—if we are so selfish, then there is impurity in the mind. 

Sattvic Tapas

Sattvic tapas is attended with intense faith that it will bring the noble fruit of inner spiritual illumination, and not because it will bring some material benefit. Spiritual aspiration is always a movement of our consciousness towards the higher values of life which are God-oriented in every way and, therefore, the question of expecting some material benefit out of our performance is totally out of point. 

Rajasic and Tamasic Tapas

Fickle-minded people with no concentration whatsoever, with no understanding, with no knowledge of what they are doing at all, and perhaps even harm other people—if that kind of undertaking is our desire, we should be considered as tamasic. 

If we do sacrifice for respect, for gaining recognition from people, and for ostentation, it is rajasic; but if we do it for harming people, if our sacrifice is not motivated by pious intentions, then it is tamasic.

What is our Goal in Spiritual path?

Basically, it all boils down to what our focus is, in our spiritual path. Once we hold our ideal at a lofty level to attain Self-Realization, then everything - Sacrifice, Austerity, Charity (Yagna, Dhana, Tapas), automatically and involuntarily, is taken up in Sattvic level. The lower we keep our goal / our desire, the higher is the possibility of our falling into Rajasic or Tamasic mode.

Love.