Why: senselessly torturing the elements of the body, and also Krishna dwelling within, know these to be of demonic resolve, extending the critique of ego-driven austerity to include actual self-harm as a further, more severe consequence of the same underlying pattern.

In life: a self-discipline practice taken to a genuinely harmful extreme, whether physical, financial, or emotional self-punishment, stops being growth and becomes a form of self-harm worth recognizing and stopping.

Teaching: if a discipline or practice you've been pursuing has crossed into actual self-harm rather than growth, name that crossing directly and treat it as a signal to step back, not as evidence you simply need to push harder.