BRAHMACHARYA
II.38 brahmacharya pratisthayam virya labhah
"brahmacharya" = walking in awareness of the highest reality, absolute reality, remembering the divine, practicing the presence of God; continence
"pratisthayam" = having firmly established, being well grounded in
"virya" = strength, vigor, vitality, courage
"labhah" = is acquired, attained, gained
When the sadhaka is firmly established in continence, knowledge, vigour,valour and energy flow to him
The celibate transforms the energy of procreation into spiritual energy ( ojas ), creating lustre
Brabmacarya, in its sense of sexual control or celibacy is often misunderstood
Sexual energy is the most basic expression of the life force. It is immensely powerful, and it is essential to control and channel it. In no way should we despise it. On the contrary, we must respect and esteem it. He who seeks merely to suppress or stamp down his sexual energy is in effect denigrating his own origins. Of course there is a moral aspect to sexual behaviour, but cultural differences permit vastly different behaviour. Some cultures allow one wife, some three, some many. In parts of the Himalayas a woman May have several husbands. Often what we call sexual immorality offends less against the code of brabmacarya than against the other injunctions of yama
Imagine the case of a married man who commits adultery with a married woman, and lies when he is suspected. Has he not offended, by the pain he gives, against ahimsa ? By his lies, against satya ? By taking another man’s wife, against asteyai By his greed, against aparigraba ? The sexual misdemeanour in itself shrinks in comparison
A yogi may or may not practise total abstinence; the great yogi Vasista had one hundred children, yet he was called a brabmacari. Ancient yogis studied the conjunction of stars and planets to discover the most auspicious moment for procreation. Continence or control in no way belies or contradicts the enjoyment of pleasure. Assuredly they enhance it. It is when sensory pleasure is the sole motivating factor that brabmacarya is infringed.
The life-force which finds sexual expression also serves to find the warmth of our emotions, the passions of our intellect, and our idealism. As our physical essence is sperm or egg, so our spiritual essence is the soul. Their relationship should be based on co-operation. It is the creative relationship of purusa and prakrti which leads to freedom. Renunciation is a positive process of disengagement, not a sterile rejection. In the past, most great yogis were householders. We must learn to husband and control the life-force because it provides the energy which carries us to goals other than procreation. Also we should remember that procreation by those practising brahmacarya will tend to be of a higher order than that which is carried out thoughtlessly or promiscuously
The religious or educational studentship of adolescence is also termed brahmacarya. That is because the enormous outburst of energy which is released by puberty needs to be contained and channelled for the child’s all-round growth. If a child were to indulge in sexual activity the moment he or she was biologically ripe, a large part of his or her human potential would be thrown away.
We need application, study and idealistic motivation if we are to achieve anything. If, by youthful profligacy, the concentrated source of our energy has already been squandered, we will rediscover it later in life only with enormous difficulty. Lack of control can lead to despair, dejection and depression. But if energy is abundant and controlled we have hope and confidence, and our mind turns automatically to higher thoughts