Renunciation does not mean to avoid all action, which is impossible. Three actions should not be given up – yajna (sacrifice or fire ceremony), dana (acts of charity) and tapas (penance or austerity). People take the meaning of these actions literally and perform fire ceremonies or give donations to the needy and undertake acts of austerity by which they torture their body. But the proper approach of these three practices is metaphorical.
Yajna means prana yajna, offering oblation of breath to the soul-fire in the pituitary, and to the God-fire in the fontanel.Dana means to donate. Realization would be extremely easy if you could pass through its gateway by donating your belongings. Real dana is to donate the restless, unclean mind full of worldly ideas to God so that every thought is Divine and God-oriented. Tapa is the breath that goes up and touches the God- fire in the fontanel, and maintains the body temperature. Another meaning of tapas is to remain in tapah loka associated with the ajna chakra. Tapas or the real penance is not allowing the mind to go below this point. Through these activities the mind becomes pure. Those who perform these activities become perfect.
Sthitha Prajna - Jul 2002