Can a person eat food and sleep while doing Tapasya?

Question

If a person is doing Tapasya , Can he eat food or he should be constantly be doing Tapasya ? I think a normal person will die if he does Tapasya constantly as he would require food , some rest ,sleep in between .

Answer 1

यश्चित्तविजये यत्त: स्यान्नि:सङ्गोऽपरिग्रह: । एको विविक्तशरणो भिक्षुर्भैक्ष्यमिताशन:
One who has conquered the mind(worldly desires), must detach from all associations, (relationships, belongings) and resort to a solitary place , as an ekaaki एको (alone, without company) ..(Nevertheless), he may beg(bhikshu) for survival and for the sake of maintanence of the body and must be mita-ashnaha(frugal in eating)
Srimad Bhaagavad Puran 7.15.30

As per commentary of Sri Shankaracharya , for Gita (6.10), [ekaaki(alone) rahasi sthithaha (secluded place)] ,It is not acceptable by shaastras, if a one in grihastrashrama resorts to a solitary place for tapas. So, there is no question of a normal person doing tapasya , without advancing to sanyaasa ashrama. Also Sri Shankaracharya does not accede the possibility of jnana karma samucchaya /~ improbability of conjoining pravritti and nivirthi marg

An anecdote fron Chandogya upanishad 7.26.x

In purity of food there is purity of mind; in purity of mind there is established memory; in established memory there results the release from all the knots of the heart. After a fast for fifteen days, Svetaketu lost his memory and could not recite the Vedas. But, when, afterwards, he ate food, he regained his memory and recited the Vedas.
Swami Sivananda

mana eva manushyanam karanam bandha-mokshayoh bandhaya visayasango muktyai nirvisayam manah
For man, mind is the cause of bondage and mind is the cause of liberation. Mind absorbed in sense objects is the cause of bondage, and mind detached from the sense objects is the cause of liberation.”
(Amrita-bindu Upanishad 2)

So human body is a vehicle for self-realization as well.Therefore a Tapasvi however, must survive (with or without food.)

Bhagavad Gita 6.16

नात्यश्नतस्तु योगोऽस्ति न चैकान्तमनश्नत: | न चाति स्वप्नशीलस्य जाग्रतो नैव चार्जुन
But, O Arjuna, (dyana)Yoga is not for one who eats too much, nor for one who does not eat at all; neither for one who habitually sleeps too long, nor surely for one who keeps awake.
Swami Gambirananda

(According to Swami Madhusadana Saraswatis commentary ,..Gita 6.16,17 is in the context of samprajnata-samadhi only ,.. not in the plane of (full nirodha) asamprajnata-samadhi)

PS: A tapasvi cannot afford to lose his prana without food/water.. Whether he maintains it , with or without food depends on the stage/choice of the tapasvi (as in the comment by Swami Vishwananda).Patajali yoga sutras do say that, it is possible for a yogi to transcend food/water.