"Vidyaa thapobhyaam Poothaatma" - "By means of Vidya and Thapas, man is transformed into a purified soul." Vidya can be considered as having two aspects: Baahya Vidya and Brahma Vidya. Baahya Vidya provides the wherewithal for human livelihood. Man can study many subjects, earn valuable degrees, acquire higher and higher jobs and manage to spend his life with no worry and fear. This type of Vidya helps man whatever the job he is raised to, whether a peon or a Prime Minister. Brahma Vidya, on the other hand, endows all human beings with the strength which enables them to discharge successfully the duty they owe to themselves. It lays down the path which leads both to joy in worldly relations and bliss in the life beyond. Therefore, Brahma Vidya is far superior to all the Vidyas available on earth to man. Brahma Vidya has the divine potency to liberate everyone from bondage. Baahya Vidya has no such potency, Brahma Vidya makes you aware of the Omniself, the Absolute, the Parabrahma; thapas enables you to merge with That. Vidya is the process of acquiring knowledge; Thapas is the known. The first is indirect, it is the means. The second is the goal, the end.

Guru means literally the 'big' person, the 'great' person. That is to say, the guru must have mastered these two, Vidya and Thapas. When one desires to wash off the dirt from the clothes he wears it has accumulated, he needs both soap and clean water. So too, when one is anxious to remove the dirt that has stuck to the mind, both Vidya and Thapas are essential. Only when both are used can the levels of consciousness be thoroughly cleaned. No vehicle can move without two wheels, nor can a bird fly on one wing. So too, no man can be rendered holy or purified without Vidya and Thapas.

Thapas does not mean positioning oneself upside down, head on the ground and feet held up, like a bat. Nor is it the renunciation of possessions and properties, wife and children and emaciating one's body, holding the nose to regulate breath. No. Physical actions, oral assertions and mental resolves - all three have to be in unison. The thought, the speech and the act all have to be pure. This is the real Thapas. And they have to be co-ordinated not by the compulsion of duty. The effort must be undertaken for satisfying one's inner yearnings, for the contentment of the self. This struggle is the essence of Thapas.

The Gita depicts the ideal Guru and the ideal Sishya - the pupil is the Adhikaaramurthi and the preceptor is the Avataramurthi. Arjuna has earned the right to learn; Krishna has come as Man to teach man. The pupil is Narothama (The best of men); the Preceptor is Purushothama (the best among Physical Embodiments). The pupil wields the bow; the Guru wields the secret of all skills, Yoga. He is Yogeswara. Arjuna is Dhanurdhaari. When these two meet, Vidya is transformed into Brahma Vidya.