Four kinds of brahmachAri (celibate)

[Guest guest]

Four kinds of brahmachAri (celibate)

 

My intention in this post is to show how our ancient sages looked upon every legitimate act of the human being as sacred, including even the act of procreation, which we are reluctant to speak about in public.

 

Some of the sub-commentaries under Shri Shankara's bhAshya on brahma sutra 3. 4. 18 point out that according to one of the smRitis, known as kANvAyana smRiti, brahmachAri (celibate) is of four kinds—gAyatra, brAhma, prAjApatya, and bRihan. These are described below:

1. gAyatra—One who, after being invested with the sacred thread recites gAyatri for three days, taking food without chillies and salt.

2. brAhma—He who remains a celibate until he completes the study of the vedas.

3. prAjApatya—He who has intercourse with his wife during the period of her Ritu (her most fertile period) and keeps away from all other women.

4. bRihan--- He who stays with his guru throughout life as a celibate. (naiShThika brahmachAri).

 

No. 3 above shows that even a married man is considered as a celibate if he goes to his wife only during the prescribed periods. It is to be noted that this is not optional, but a duty cast on the husband. Shri Shankara himself quotes the following smRiti statement in his bhAshya on brahma sutra, 2. 3. 48 : Ritau bhAryAm upeyat—One should go to his wife during her Ritu.

In chapter VI of bRihadAraNyaka upanishad the act of procreation has been elevated to the status of a sacred yajna. In chapter VI. 4. 21 the mantras to be recited by the husband during the act are mentioned. What the husband has to do is also stated in very plain terms. (One may think it is from a book by Havelock Ellis). In the Ramakrishna Mission translation they have avoided giving the translation of this paragraph. But the Gita press edition gives the Hindi translation. I do not wish to give the translation here.

 

ManusmRiti, ch.3, verse 45 says:

 

RitukAlAbhigAmI syAt svadAranirataH sadA |

parvavarjam vrajeccainAm tadvrato ratikAmyaya ||

 

Meaning: One should go to his wife during her period of Ritu, avoiding the nights of new moon and full moon, be ever devoted to his wife, and accede to her wish for union whenever she desires.

 

The celebrated commentary on ManusmRiti by Kulloka Bhatta says on this shloka:--

There are three injunctions in this verse---going to his wife during her Ritu, keeping away from all other women, and going to his wife if she desires, even outside the Ritu period. The days that constitute the Ritu period are stated in the next verse.

Best wishes,

S.N.Sastri

[Guest guest]

Namaste S.N.Sastri

 

thank you very much indeed for your clear interpretation about brahmachAri.

This i understand now and agree with it.

For your information please, and for everybody who is interested: this shows me again a deep, very deep link between orthodox judaism and Vedanta.

On my way "back home" as i call it i reached the final conclusion that Vedanta - Nonduality - "is IT.

What gave me "the final touch" was the Grace to read in Sadguru Sri Ramana Maharshi ITS words:

I AM WHO I AM is the real name of GD. In it is included all the wisdom of thousand of years of Vedanta.

Thank you again for your help and being a member of this Sangha. Even if "i" am an ignorant in so many ways....

but this person tries...

and what makes me "tick" is the deep inner conviction that i do have to put in daily practice all what "iknow" as essential

michael calls this putting LOVE in action in this "giant" DREAM of life

 

with deep regards to all of you

 

in GDS Grace

 

michael

 

 

 

-

S.N. Sastri

advaitin

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 2:48 PM

Four kinds of brahmachAri (celibate)

 

 

 

Four kinds of brahmachAri (celibate)

 

My intention in this post is to show how our ancient sages looked upon every legitimate act of the human being as sacred, including even the act of procreation, which we are reluctant to speak about in public.

 

Some of the sub-commentaries under Shri Shankara's bhAshya on brahma sutra 3. 4. 18 point out that according to one of the smRitis, known as kANvAyana smRiti, brahmachAri (celibate) is of four kinds—gAyatra, brAhma, prAjApatya, and bRihan. These are described below:

1. gAyatra—One who, after being invested with the sacred thread recites gAyatri for three days, taking food without chillies and salt.

2. brAhma—He who remains a celibate until he completes the study of the vedas.

3. prAjApatya—He who has intercourse with his wife during the period of her Ritu (her most fertile period) and keeps away from all other women.

4. bRihan--- He who stays with his guru throughout life as a celibate. (naiShThika brahmachAri).

 

No. 3 above shows that even a married man is considered as a celibate if he goes to his wife only during the prescribed periods. It is to be noted that this is not optional, but a duty cast on the husband. Shri Shankara himself quotes the following smRiti statement in his bhAshya on brahma sutra, 2. 3. 48 : Ritau bhAryAm upeyat—One should go to his wife during her Ritu.

In chapter VI of bRihadAraNyaka upanishad the act of procreation has been elevated to the status of a sacred yajna. In chapter VI. 4. 21 the mantras to be recited by the husband during the act are mentioned. What the husband has to do is also stated in very plain terms. (One may think it is from a book by Havelock Ellis). In the Ramakrishna Mission translation they have avoided giving the translation of this paragraph. But the Gita press edition gives the Hindi translation. I do not wish to give the translation here.

 

ManusmRiti, ch.3, verse 45 says:

 

RitukAlAbhigAmI syAt svadAranirataH sadA |

parvavarjam vrajeccainAm tadvrato ratikAmyaya ||

 

Meaning: One should go to his wife during her period of Ritu, avoiding the nights of new moon and full moon, be ever devoted to his wife, and accede to her wish for union whenever she desires.

 

The celebrated commentary on ManusmRiti by Kulloka Bhatta says on this shloka:--

There are three injunctions in this verse---going to his wife during her Ritu, keeping away from all other women, and going to his wife if she desires, even outside the Ritu period. The days that constitute the Ritu period are stated in the next verse.

Best wishes,

S.N.Sastri

 

 

 

Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.175 / Virus Database: 270.8.4/1749 - Release 27/10/2008 7.57

[Guest guest]

Namaste Sastriji.

 

It is noticed that most of your mails these days are coming in very

large fonts with the lines overlapping. This causes strain to the eyes.

Probably you are first typing the messages using some software and then

uploading them to the List. Will you kindly look into the problem?

 

Thanks and best regards.

 

Madathil Nair

[Guest guest]

Dear Nair-ji,

Sorry for the trouble.I shall do the needful.

Regards,

S.N.Sastri

On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 11:34 AM, Madathil Rajendran Nair <madathilnair wrote:

 

 

 

 

 

Namaste Sastriji.It is noticed that most of your mails these days are coming in very large fonts with the lines overlapping. This causes strain to the eyes. Probably you are first typing the messages using some software and then

uploading them to the List. Will you kindly look into the problem?Thanks and best regards.Madathil Nair

[Guest guest]

Namaste Sastriji.

 

Ritu, as per dictionary, means both the period of menstruation as

well as the days following it which are favourable for procreation.

 

If I am not unnecessarily prolonging the List's attention on this

topic of no immediate and direct relevance to advaita per se, will

you kindly quote-the next verse which mentions the days that

constitute the Ritu period with its meaning? We can at least compare

them with the fecund dates of modern fertility charts.

 

Best regards.

 

Madathil Nair

______________

 

-- In advaitin , " S.N. Sastri " <sn.sastri wrote:

 

> There are three injunctions in this verse---going to his wife

during her

> Ritu, keeping away from all other women, and going to his wife if

she

> desires, even outside the Ritu period. The days that constitute the

Ritu

> period are stated in the next verse.

[Guest guest]

Namaste Nairji:

 

I am rather surprised to see these comments from you. Sri Sastriji is

about 85 years of age and probably his eye sight may not be as sharp

as you or me. Whenever we write letters to elders in our family, we

write in " big fonts " so that they can read those letters.

 

Sastriji at his age has reasons to choose big fonts so that he can

read what he writes. We are all very fortunate that he finds time to

share his thoughts by posting messages in this list. We do have other

means to cope up with either " small " or " large " fonts. We can use a

software to readjust the fonts to suit our eyes with correct size to

avoid overlapping.

 

The reason that I am writing this is to inform Sastriji that he can

just continue to post messages in a format and fonts that is most

suitable to him. We all value his 'wisdom' and we want to wish him

good health and we are more than delighted to see his messages in the

list.

 

With my warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

 

advaitin , " Madathil Rajendran Nair "

<madathilnair wrote:

>

> Namaste Sastriji.

>

> It is noticed that most of your mails these days are coming in very

> large fonts with the lines overlapping. This causes strain to the

eyes.

> Probably you are first typing the messages using some software and

then

> uploading them to the List. Will you kindly look into the problem?

>

> Thanks and best regards.

>

> Madathil Nair

>

[Guest guest]

Namaste Ramji.

 

You seem to have misunderstood me.

 

I didn't mean to criticize our most respected Sastriji. I thought

may be there was something wrong and wanted to inform him about it.

If he is comfortable with the way the mails are appearing, I too am

happy without any complaints.

 

Best regards.

 

Madathil Nair

____________________

 

advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran

wrote:

> I am rather surprised to see these comments from you. Sri Sastriji

is

> about 85 years of age and probably his eye sight may not be as

sharp

> as you or me. Whenever we write letters to elders in our family,

we

> write in " big fonts " so that they can read those letters.

[Guest guest]

advaitin , " Madathil Rajendran Nair "

<madathilnair wrote:

>

> Namaste Sastriji.

>

> Ritu, as per dictionary, means both the period of menstruation as

> well as the days following it which are favourable for procreation.

>

> If I am not unnecessarily prolonging the List's attention on this

> topic of no immediate and direct relevance to advaita per se, will

> you kindly quote-the next verse which mentions the days that

> constitute the Ritu period with its meaning? We can at least

compare

> them with the fecund dates of modern fertility charts.

>

> Best regards.

>

> Madathil Nair

 

Dear Nair-ji,

The shloka in ManusmRiti, (3.46) which explains the meaning of the

term Ritu is given below:

 

RituH svAbhAvikaH strINAm rAtrayaH ShoDasha smRitAH |

caturbhiritaraiH sArdham ahobhiH sadvigarhitaiH ||

 

The meaning as given in the commentary is: The period of Ritu is 16

days including the four days from the start of menstruation which

are not considered fit. In other words the period is 12 days from

the 5th day after start of menstruation.

 

Let us now close this topic.

Regards,

S.N.Sastri

[Guest guest]

--- On Wed, 10/29/08, Ram Chandran <ramvchandran wrote:

 

 

The reason that I am writing this is to inform Sastriji that he can

just continue to post messages in a format and fonts that is most

suitable to him. We all value his 'wisdom' and we want to wish him

good health and we are more than delighted to see his messages in the

list.

 

PraNAms to all and PraNams to Shree Sastriji

 

I just want to echo the sentiments of Shree Ram Chandran. Recently I was blessed

to meet Shree Sastriji at his residence in Chennai. It is an inspiration to meet

him and we are fortunate that he could spend some time at his leisure and share

his wisdom with us.

 

Hari Om!

Sadananda