Chapter XVII · Śloka 19
Śrī Kṛṣṇa uvāca
मूढग्राहेणात्मनो यत्पीडया क्रियते तपः |
परस्योत्सादनार्थं वा तत्तामसमुदाहृतम् ||
परस्योत्सादनार्थं वा तत्तामसमुदाहृतम् ||
mūḍha-grāheṇātmano yat pīḍayā kriyate tapaḥ |
parasyotsādanārthaṃ vā tat tāmasam udāhṛtam ||
parasyotsādanārthaṃ vā tat tāmasam udāhṛtam ||
That austerity performed with deluded stubbornness, with self-torture, or for the purpose of destroying another — that is declared to be tāmasika.
Tāmasika tapas destroys rather than transforms. Whether turned inward as self-harm driven by delusion or outward as a weapon against others, it is violence wearing the mask of discipline. Its source is not śraddhā but perversion of the will.