Search Results for brahmacharya
Brahmacharya
Brahmacharya The first Hindu asrama (Vedic stage of life) in which a young person receives practical instruction from family and begins to study the Veda with an experienced master or priest.
The word bramacharya once indicated the observance of correct sexuality, in this case the necessity of celibacy.
The tradition has lapsed in modern India. It was mostly followed by the brahmin caste in classical Hinduism.
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Garhashtya
The Rig Veda is one of the oldest religious texts. This Rig Veda manuscript is in Devanagari via Wikipedia
Garhashtya is the second Hindu asrama¹ (Vedic stage of life) in which the male generally enters into the marriage bond as a sacred duty and exercise in sexual self-control.
In this stage the man becomes a householder, replete with children and fulfils his dharma by taking a job according to his caste position.
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¹ In Hinduism this is the traditional belief, stemming from the Veda, that spiritual aspirants belonging to the “twice born” castes should proceed through four asrama, or stages of life. These stages are: brahmacharya, garhashtya, vanaprashta and sannyasa.
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Mahavira
Image via Wikipedia
Mahavira (Sanskrit: great hero) lived around 540-468 BCE who is said to have lived 26 previous lives before becoming fully enlightened and incarnating for the final time to hammer down the central tenets of Jainism.
Born a prince of the Kshatriya caste, Mahavira’s parents were followers of a previous Jain teacher, Parshva.
Mahavira created a specific Jain community and, as with today’s practicing Jains, he believed in karma, reincarnation and asceticism and took five main vows:
- Nonviolence (Ahimsa) – to cause no harm to any living being;
- Truthfulness (Satya) – to speak the harmless truth only;
- Non-stealing (Asteya) – to take nothing not properly given;
- Chastity (Brahmacharya) – to indulge in no sensual pleasure;
- Non-possession/Non-attachment (Aparigraha) – to detach completely from people, places, and material things.¹
Like his contemporary, the Buddha, Mahavira is said to have married and sired a daughter, abandoning both wife and child at age 30. Apparently after teaching for thirty years he, unlike the Buddha, followed his parents’ example of extreme asceticism and starved himself to death.
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¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahavira#Philosophy
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Veda
Veda
These are the first group of ancient Hindu sacred books, for which Max Müller and most subsequent scholars suggest a date of 13th century BCE.
Ten in all, the Veda form a mandala (circle) of knowledge and are believed by some to represent truth and therefore all that is necessary for spiritual liberation.
The more recent Upanisads are known as the Vedanta–that is, the end of the Veda.
As hindu-blog points out, however, both the Veda and the Upanisads are based on a longstanding oral tradition which makes precise dating open to debate:
The Upanishads and Vedas were rendered orally and were passed on for generations before being written. Nobody is sure about the actual dates of these texts. » Source
Recently, the only Sanskrit rock band of the world, “Shanti Shanti” has produced an album called “Veda.”
This CD titled “Veda”, produced by Ganesha Publishing BMI, contains shlokas (hymns) from all four Vedas-Rig-veda, Sama-veda, Atharva-veda, and Yajur-veda, some as old as 1,500 BCE. » Source
» Asrama, Asura, Avatar, Avesta, Brahmacharya, Brahmanas, Brahmin, Caste, Dismemberment, Durga, Hinduism, Kama, Krishna, Kshatriya, Language, Manu, O’Flaherty (Wendy Doniger), Rishis, Samkhya, Sita, Sutra, Upanisads, Zoroastrianism
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Asrama
Asrama In Hinduism this is the traditional belief, stemming from the Veda, that spiritual aspirants belonging to the “twice born” castes should proceed through four asrama, or stages of life.
These stages are: brahmacharya, garhashtya, vanaprashta and sannyasa.
Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by posting a comment
