Book Title: Practice of Karma Yoga
Author(s): Swami Sivananda
Publisher: Divine Life Society

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Page 257
________________ GARLAND OF KARMA YOGA He who has controlled the mind has controlled also the breath. The mind is set in motion or rendered active by two things, viz., the vibration of Prana and Vasanas (subtle desires). If one of these two dies, the other also dies by itself. Where the mind is absorbed, there the Prana is restrained; and where the Prana is fixed, there the mind is also absorbed. Mind and Prana are intimate companions, like man and his shadow If the mind and Prana are not restrained, all the Indriyas, organs of sensation and action keep actively engaged in their respective functions An Akhanda Brahmachari who has not allowed even a drop of semen to come out for a period of twelve years, will enter into Samadhi without any effort. Prana and mind are under his perfect control. Bala-Brahmacharya is a synonymous term for unbroken (Akhanda) Brahmacharya An Akhanda Brahmachari has strong Dharana Shakti (power of grasping), retentive memory (Smriti Shaktı) and Vichara Shakti (power of enquiry). An Akhanda Brahmacharı need not practise reflection (Manana) and meditation (Nididhyasan) Even if he hears once the Mahavakya or the great sentence of the Upanishads, he will at once achieve Atma Sakshatkara or Brahmanubhava (Self-realization) His intellect is pure and his understanding is extremely clear There are some Akhanda Brahmacharis, but they are very rare You can also become an Akhanda Brahmachari 253

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