Truth or Satya is the best among all the types of austerity. A truthful man is the supreme devotee and a great accomplisher. Austerity helps a man to attain all the worldly pleasures of life and ultimately salvation. Austerities have been classified into three types on the basis of three basic qualities or gunas i.e. Satvik tapa, Rajassi tapa and Tamassi tapa.
Austerities observed by the deities’ hermits and celibates come under the category of Satvik
Tapa.
Austerities maintained by the ‘daityas’ and man come under the category of Rajasi-Tapa.
Austerities maintained by the demons and those people who indulge in evil and cruel deeds come under the category of Tamasi Tapa.