YOU MUST KNOW #30

Attributes of Hanumanji…

Brahmacharya

Brahmachari (self-controlled): one who controls their lust from all materialistic things of the material world.

Brahmacharya is a concept within Indian religions that literally means to stay in conduct within one’s own Self. In Yoga, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism it generally refers to a lifestyle characterized by sexual continence or complete abstinence.

Brahmacharya is somewhat different from the English term “celibacy,” which merely means non-indulgence in sexual activity. Brahmacharya is when a person completely controls his body and mind (chitta) through ascetic means.

In the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist monastic traditions, brahmacharya implies, among other things, the mandatory renunciation of sex and marriage. It is considered necessary for a monk’s spiritual practice. Western notions of the religious life as practiced in monastic settings mirror these characteristics.

In ancient and medieval era Indian texts, the term brahmacharya is a concept with a more complex meaning indicating an overall lifestyle conducive to the pursuit of sacred knowledge and spiritual liberation.

 Brahmacharya is a means, not an end. It usually includes cleanliness, ahimsa, simple living, studies, meditation, and voluntary restraints on certain foods (eating only Sattvic food), on intoxicants, and on sexual behavior (both sex and masturbation, in some schools of thought).

Gonda (A book) states that there were no age restrictions at the start of brahmacharya in ancient India. Not only young men, but older people resorted to the student stage of life, and sought teachers who were authoritative in certain subjects. The Chandogya Upanishad, in Section 5.11, describes “wealthy and learned householders” becoming brahmacārīs (students) with Rishi Kaikeya, to gain knowledge about Atman (inner Self) and Brahman (Ultimate Reality).

Various Ashrams (आश्रम, hermitage) and Matha (मठ, college of ascetics) of various schools of Hinduism call their male and female initiates as brahmacārī and brahmacārinī.

Graduation from the brahmacharya stage of life was marked by the Samavartanam ceremony. The graduate was then ready to either start the Grihastha (householder) stage of life, or wait, or pursue a life of Sannyasa and solitude like Rishis in the forest.

 Vyasa in Chapter 234 of Shanti Parva in the Mahabharata praises brahmacharya as an important stage of life necessary for learning, then adds Grihastha stage as the root of society and important to an individual’s success.

Jai Bajrang Bali Ji