Brahmacharya is a vow which means that a person is mentally and physically abstaining from all the sensual pleasures. Marriage is supposed to be monogamous and being faithful means respecting the truth. Gandhi understood the true meaning of brahmacharya when he visited South Africa where he was influenced by Raychandbhai. Devotion, which is related to self-control, is the part of being faithful and practicing brahmacharya means taking a vow and denouncing all earthly pleasures which might corrupt a person and their practice.
Gandhi thinks about the true meaning of faithfulness and its connection with devotion. He talks about the connection between faithfulness and lust because faithfulness does not mean anything if it is related to lust. He felt lust towards his wife, but he did not want to have any more children which is when the real challenge occurred and Gandhi and his wife did not share the bed anymore. The situation meant that Gandhi had to resort to self-control and his main attempt consisted in exhausting himself throughout the whole day while he was away from home. Gandhi says: “It became my conviction that procreation and the consequent care of children was inconsistent with public service” (Gandhi 2). He was still in Johannesburg when he accepted the offer his help in public service. He also sent his family away so that he could devote himself completely to serving to the public. It was then when he joined the “Rebellion” that he understood the true meaning of giving vows to someone or to some cause. Gandhi believes that he did not have much faith in anything up to then and that he learnt about determination during this public service. At this moment, Gandhi realized that he needed to have faith in himself, in God because such a life would make him feel no doubt. He proves that all of these feeling do not come naturally and these are concepts which have to be lived through and adopted. Taking vows means making a commitment and that man has to be able to resist temptation whether he made a vow or not. It is better for a person to make vows because the devotion becomes more meaningful.
Moreover, it is important to have faith in oneself because it is not possible to achieve anything without having much faith which comes from within. It is important to make an effort and become able to resist any kind of temptation. “Doubt also betrays a lack of clear perception that a particular thing must be renounced” (Gandhi 2). People’s opinions might change through time, but vows represent determination to stay true to a cause and to make effort. All of this means that people are doing their best to remain on the right path. It is also important for people to have strength and be courageous enough to stay true to their vows. All of the passions which a person has need to be put under control and this is where religion and God gain much importance. Gandhi believes that without the vow there is not much chance of resisting temptation and that vow protects a person against temptation. : This is true due to the fact that person has self-control in the beginning, but later begins to feel joy which comes from restraining. Upon finishing his duties in Johannesburg, Gandhi went to Phoenix and took his vows of brahmacharya. It is important to realize that each day makes a person closer to knowing that brahmacharya protect a person’s body, mind and soul. After the test of time brahmacharya becomes joy and not hard work because hardship pays. Moreover, there is still hard work, but it is enjoyable because of the result. Practicing brahmacharya requires much self-restraint and a lot of effort, but the joy increases all the time although temptation never vanishes. While brahmacharya more specifically refers to celibacy and chastity, it also means the control of the senses or indriyas. There is also a dietary component of practicing brahmacharya which is related to becoming enlightened. Gandhi experimented with food related to the practice of brahmacharya and he reached a conclusion that a recommendable diet has to be simple and fresh which is very similar to modern veganism. Fasting is also an inseparable element of brachmacharya: “Fasting is useful when mind co-operates with starving body, that is to say, when it cultivates a distaste for the objects that are denied to the body” (Gandhi 3). It is useless to deprive oneself from food for a certain time period while being anxious to come back to it after the time dedicated to fasting has passed. Fasting should be continued so that it could make the sexual desire extinct.
People practicing brachmacharya lead much different lives than the people who do not practice brachmacharya who live ordinary lives. Practicing brahmacharya results in having full control over one’s way of thinking and acting. The limit is non-existent because deprivation has no boundaries. Although the practice of brachmacharya leads to an idealistic state, this state does not exist in reality and it should only be strived for. A man has to give his whole self to this practice so that he would be able to get some results. A person’s mind has to be tamed because it has great power and a lot of effort has to be put in making a person have only voluntary thoughts. God and the belief in him make everything possible including self-control which is the essential trait that a person needs to possess. The effort in practicing brahmacharya is great and people should strive for perfection. The point is to reach the state of being mentally equipped to grasp the entire truth with the help coming from religion and faith.
Works Cited
Gandhi, Mahatma. Gandhi: An Autobiography - The Story of My Experiments With Truth. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993. Print.
