A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s7.166

v1.c8.s7.166

² Most of the creation-legends in the Brāhmaṇas begin in the same way. As the magician must prepare himself for his magic, and the priest must prepare himself for the sacrifice, by means of self-torture and mortification, so Prajapati, too, has to prepare himself in the same way for the great work of creation. From the root *śram* “to exert oneself,” is derived the word *Śramaṇa* “the ascetic” which later occurs frequently, particularly in the Buddhist literature. The word *Tapas* actually means “heat,” then “ascetic fervour,” then asceticism itself. “In fact, if by the designation Tapas the manifold forms of mortification are understood, then, especially in the earlier periods, the reference to heat as the vehicle of mortification stands in the foreground.” (Oldenberg, Religion des Veda, 2. Aufl., pp. 401 ff.) According to Śat. X, 4, 4, 1 f., Prajapati once mortified himself for a thousand years until, as a result of the “heat” of the mortification, lights issued from his pores,—and these became the stars.