Brahmacharya
The brahmacharya (bachelor student) stage of life – from childhood up to twenty-five years of age – was focused on education and included the practice of celibacy.
[1] In ancient and medieval era Indian texts, the term brahmacharya is a concept with a more complex meaning, indicating a lifestyle conducive to the pursuit of sacred knowledge and spiritual liberation.
[11][12] Brahmacharya represents the highest level of self-control, an intense mental and spiritual discipline of controlling the senses to attain liberation.
Rig Veda, for example, in Mandala 10, Sukta 136, mentions knowledge seekers as those kesin (long-haired) and with soil-colored clothes (yellow, orange, saffron) engaged in the affairs of mananat (mind, meditation).
[14] This chapter of Atharva Veda describes brahmacharya as that which leads to one's second birth (mind, Self-awareness), with Hymn 11.5.3 painting a symbolic picture that when a teacher accepts a brahmacārī, the student becomes his embryo.
The verses 11.5.4.16 and 11.5.4.17 of the Satpatha Brahamana present two different viewpoints on the sexual activity, of the guru during the Brahmacharya ashrama, i.e., the teacher of the "student Brahmachari[n]", one against and one as a choice.
[19] Similarly, in verse 11.5.4.18, the Satapatha Brahmana presents contrasting viewpoints on an eating restraint (regarding honey) for the brahmacārī student.
[23] The Shandilya Upanishad includes brahmacharya as one of ten yamas in Chapter 1, defining it as "refraining from sexual intercourse in all places and in all states in mind, speech, or body"[24] while Linga Purana in chapter 1.8 states that in case of householders, indulgence in sexual intercourse with their own wives and abstention from it with other women mentally, physically and verbally should be understood as brahmacharya as well.
For example, Pada Chandrika, Raja Marttanda, Sutrartha Bodhini, Mani Prabha, and Yoga Sudhakara each state that brahmacharya must be understood as the voluntary restraint of power.
[23] Chandogya Upanishad in verses of chapter 8.5 extols brahmacharya as a sacrament and sacrifice which, once perfected, leads to realization of the Self (Atman), and thereafter becomes the habit of experiencing the Self in others and everything.
By subduing desire, the practice of self-restraint enables the student to learn, pay attention in thought, word, and deed to the guru (teacher), and discover the truth embodied in the Vedas and Upanishads.
The epic declares that brahmacharya is one of twelve virtues, an essential part of angas in yoga and the path of perfecting perseverance and the pursuit of knowledge.
[32] Brahmacharya is mentioned as one of the das dharma (ten virtues) in ancient Jain texts like Tattvartha Sutra, Sarvārthasiddhi and Puruşārthasiddhyupāya.
[36][37] Upon the child's upanayanam,[38] the young person would begin a life of study in the Gurukula (the household of the Guru) dedicated to learning all aspects of dharma that is the "principles of righteous living".
A youthful Kanya (कन्या, girl) who graduates from brahmacarya, obtains a suitable husband.Gonda[45] states that there were no age restrictions for the start of brahmacharya in ancient India.
[45] The Chandogya Upanishad, in Section 5.11, describes "wealthy and learned householders" becoming brahmacārīs (students) with Rishi Kaikeya, to gain knowledge about Atman (inner Self) and Brahman (Ultimate Reality).
