The Brahmin must keep his Body Pure

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The Brahmin must keep his Body Pure

(HinduDharma: Brahmacaryasrama)

 

The Brahmin must keep his body chaste so that its impurities do not

detract from the power of the mantras he chants. "Deho devalaya prokto

jivah prokto sanatanah. " (The body is a temple. The life enshrined in it

is the eternal Lord. ) You do not enter the precincts of a temple if you

are unclean. Nothing impure should be taken in there. To carry meat,

tobacco, etc, to a temple is to defile it. According to the Agama sastras

you must not go to a temple if you are not physically and spiritually

clean.

 

The temple called the body - it enshrines the power of mantras - must

not be defiled by an impurity. There is a difference between the home

and the temple. In the home it is not necessary to observe such strict

rules of cleanliness as in the temple. Some corner, some place, in the

house is meant for the evacuation of bodily impurities, to wash the

mouth, to segregate during their periods. (In the flat system it its not

possible to live according to the sastras). In the temple there is no such

arrangement as in a house.

 

Wherever we live we require houses as well as temples. In the same

way our body must serve as a house and as a temple for Atmic work.

The Brahmin's body is to be cared for like a temple since it is meant to

preserve the Vedic mantras and no impure material is to be taken in. It

is the duty of the Brahmin to protect the power of the mantras, the

mantras that create universal well-being. That is why there are more

restrictions in his life than in that of others. The Brahmin must refrain

from all such acts and practices as make him unclean. Nor should he

be tempted by the sort of pleasures that others enjoy with the body.

 

The Brahmin's body is not meant to experience sensual enjoyment but

to preserve the Vedas for the good of mankind. It is for this purpose that

he has to perform rites like upanayana. He has to care for his body only

with the object of preserving the Vedic mantras and through them of

protecting all creatures. Others may have comfortable occupations that

bring in much money but that should be no cause for the Brahmin to

feel tempted. He ought to think of his livelihood only after he has carried

out his duties. In the past when he was loyal to his Brahminic dharma

the ruler as well as society gave him land and money to sustain himself.

Now conditions have changed and Brahmin today has to make some

effort to earn his money. But he must on no account try to amass

wealth nor must he adopt unsastric means to earn money. Indeed he

must live in poverty. It is only when he does not seek pleasure and

practices self-denial that the light of Atmic knowledge will shrine in him.

This light will make the world live. The Brahmin must not go abroad in

search of fortune, giving up the customs and practices he is heir to. His

fundamental duty is to preserve the Vedic mantras and follow his own

dharma. Earning money is secondary to him.

 

If the Brahmin keeps always burning the fire of mantras always burning

in him, there will be universal welfare. He must be able to help people in

trouble with his mantric power and he is in vain indeed if he turns away

a man who seeks his help, excusing himself thus: "I do the same things

that you do. I possess only such power as you have."

 

Today the fire of mantric power has been put out (or it is perhaps like

dying embers). The body of Brahmin has been subjected to undesirable

changes and impure substances have found a place in it. But may be a

spark of the old fire still gives off a dim light. It must be made to burn

brighter. One day it may become a blaze. This spark is Gayatri. It has

been handed down to us through the ages.

 

 

http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part17/chap11.htm