Book Title: Concept of Pancasila in Indian Thaought
Author(s): Kamla Jain
Publisher: P V Research Institute Varanasi

Previous | Next

Page 147
________________ 132 The Concept of Pancasila in Indian Thought to its conventional usage and not to its etymological meaning. The Yama of brahmacarya plainly implies only the sexual restraint, and all other sensual desires are included in it, in so far as they are connected with sexual desires. Vyāsa in his comment on the Sūtras defines brahmacarya as continence which means control of the hidden organ of generation. 1 Vācaspati Misra, in his explanation of the same, says that simply control of the hidden organ of generation would not mean 'brahmacarya', for even if the organ of generation is held under control, one becomes attached to the sight of a woman, or upon hearing her talk, or upon touching her limbs which are the seats of kandarpa (passions), and therefore one cannot be said to have him established in continence. So it is not enough to have a check on physical sex indulgence only; it is also necessary that other organs that are very ardent for this are checked with full watchfulness and mental alertness. The tendency to indulge in incontinence can be checked by the same method of 'pratipakşa bhāvanā', i. e. by the cultivation of opposites, as for example the desire "I will commit adultery with another's wife' can be checked by contemplating over the goodness of celibacy as an important step for liberation. The special remark which Patañjali makes about 'brahmacarya' in another sūtra underlines the exclusiveness and importance of complete sex restraint that has come anew in the Brāhmaṇical thought. The life of a householder is put on the secondary level, and it is forcefully promulgated that an aspirant of spiritual happiness must be a celibate. The Sūtra declares “as soon as one is grounded in abstinence from 1. TÀ FESTFATTETTU FA: I -Vyāsa's Comm. on Pät. Yoga, 2. 30. The case is just the same, as the sight of man for women. 2. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290