This can be translated as "gall," but here it implies rather that which is also expressed by the word gall: temperament. But this again only in a limited sense. The Charaka Samhita derives this word from the root tap, "to heat," and this brings us closer to the meaning. We quote:...
bigotry and ignorance have proved a great stumbling-block to the progress of this science. I mean the Hatha yogis, those strange ascetics who by inflicting tortures and exquisite pains to their flesh, hope to liberate their spirits. Through a mistaken idea that mind and matter must necessarily...