Does tapasya burn all karmas?

Question

I have heard that tapasya burns all negative past karmas. Is it true? Is there a scriptural reference for it? Does that mean the horoscope will stop working completely as karma has been put to rest?

Answer 1

In the current age of Kali, complete freedom from all kinds of karmas is possible only through chanting the names of Lord Hari as per the Narada Purana:

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.

This state of being sinless which equates to realization of the Absolute Truth cannot be attained by tapasya alone but requires higher grace of a self-realized soul or a great devotee. This is mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana 5.12.12.

रहूगणैतत्तपसा न याति न चेज्यया निर्वपणाद् गृहाद्वा । नच्छन्दसा नैव जलाग्निसूर्यै- र्विना महत्पादरजोऽभिषेकम् ॥ १२ ॥

One cannot realize the Absolute Truth simply by observing celibacy [brahmacarya], strictly following the rules and regulations of householder life, leaving home as a vānaprastha, accepting sannyāsa, or undergoing severe penances in winter by keeping oneself submerged in water or surrounding oneself in summer by fire and the scorching heat of the sun. There are many other processes to understand the Absolute Truth, but the Absolute Truth is only revealed to one who has attained the mercy of a great devotee.

The degree to which suffering gets reduced in the present life depends on multiple factors such as sincerity in his or her spiritual practice. I suggest reading this answer for more detail.

Answer 2

Cessation of (spiritual )ignorance ( source of all bondage) is one that burns all past karma . However it cannot be attained as a direct effect of any mental/physical act .Tapasya being a mental act , is only a stepping stone that aids ablazing past karma ,though it can't be said as a direct means to achive the same. chapter 4 of Bhagavad Gita details the same .

यथैधांसि समिद्धोऽग्निर्भस्मसात्कुरुतेऽर्जुन। ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात्कुरुते तथा।।4.37।।
O Arjuna, as a blazing fire reduces pieces of wood to ashes, similarly the fire of Knowledge reduces all actions to ashes.

Liberation is not an effect to be attained; it is only to be realized through knowledge, since it is eternally existent. (It is not some thing to be brought into existence by any action, since it is ever present and has only to be realized as such).

___the cessation of ignorance alone is what is known as liberation, like the disappearance of the snake, for instance, from the rope when the wrong notion about its existence has been eradicated. (Sri Shankara bhashya br. up. 4.4.6)

Sri Shankaracharyas commentary Brahma Sutra 1.1.4

__nanu jnaanam naama maanasii kriyaa. na, vailakshaNyaat-------- veditavyam.____
jnaanam (knowledge) is not a mental act, because there is a difference (between knowledge and meditation). A mental act is seen to exist where there is an injunction about it, which is independent of the nature of the thing concerned. dhyaanam (meditation), is a mental act, because it depends on the will of the person performing it. For example, to think of a man or woman as fire, as enjoined in O Gautama, man is surely fire (Ch.up.5.7.1) , or in O Gautama, woman is surely fire(Ch.up.5.8.1) is certainly a mental act, since it arises from an injunction alone. But the idea of fire with regard to the well-known fire is not dependent on any injunction or on the will of any man. (In other words, thinking of one thing as another, like a linga as Lord Siva and worshipping it as such, is meditation and it is a mental act, because it depends on the will of the worshipper. But looking at an ordinary stone and seeing it as a stone is knowledge and is not a mental act, because it does not depend on the will of the person). While meditation depends on the will of a person, knowledge depends only on the object concerned and on valid means of knowledge, such as perception. Meditation is therefore described as purusha-tantra (dependent on the person), while knowledge is called vastu-tantra (dependent on the object to be known).
Translation Sri SN Saastri