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THE YOGA PHILOSOPHY
31
अकृत्वा प्राणिनां हिंसां मांसं नोत्पद्यते क्वचित् ।
न च प्राणिवधात् स्वर्गः तस्मान्मांसं विवर्जयेत् ॥ [You cannot get meat unless an animal is killed, killing of animals can never lead to a higher state, therefore abstain from meat altogether.] The avoidance from animal food from another point of view is strongly recommended, as it always leads to the complete obscuration and even annihilation of intuition and spirituality. It is to secure this condition of being ever with nature and never against it or, in other words, being in love with nature that all other restrictions are prescribed. (ii) The next requirement is abstaining from falsehood, i.e. from telling what we do not know or believe to be the exact state of things. (iii) The third thing to be avoided includes, besides actual illegal appropriation, even the thought for any such gain. (iv) So also does incontinence, the fourth danger in the path of success, include, besides physical enjoyment, even talking to, looking at or thinking of the other sex, with lustful intention. And here we come to the very important point of view of celibacy. We know that even doctors of eminence talk about the dictates of nature—as if animality and brutality are natural parts of man. They may talk about sexual needs, imperious necessities, uncontrollable passion. But when we come to the actual state of facts, we will realize the truth. We know that the trainer of a pugilist denies his man all sexual indulgence whatever, the trainer of a boat's crew would abandon all hope of victory if he knew that his men visited women even once a week. Indeed so jealous is he that he will not permit his wards even to talk much with the other sex, lest some erotic fancy should affect the condition of their nerves. An eminent doctor of the United States says : "All eminent physiologists who have written on this point agree that the most precious atoms of the
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