15 November 2001, 12:14am IST
MUTHUSAMY VARADARAJAN.
When rishi durvasa lost his cool with king rukmangadha because the latter partook of just a tulsi leaf and a droplet of water on dwadasi day to break his ekadasi fast, two remarkable things happened: the guerdon of the fast by which the king could brave the sage’s curse and the self-destructing nature of the latter’s anger. upavasam in the hindu nomenclature means more than just fasting. it signifies reaching out to and ‘‘living with and in god’’, transcending dehatmabuddhi or awareness of the body and the soul within. brihadaranya upanishad prescribes adhyayan or study, yagna or sacrifice, dhana or alms giving, tapasya or meditation, aided by upavasa . adi sankara elaborated it by declaring that anasakena is not to be without food alone but without the desires of the sense organs. the dictum vratoparasa nimayahi...ikshu kleshat yatanandam clarifies that just as one has to crush sugarcane to get its sweet juice, fasting may cause bodily angst but what bliss it confers on the antaratma or conscience. the rationale of fasting is that one has to be moderate in all things. moderation is enunciated in the bhagavad gita: yuktaharavihasya yogobhavati dukhaha or he is relieved of sorrow who practices the yoga of moderation in intake of food and recreation, of discipline in his actions, of avoidance of overindulgence in sleep or excessive activity while awake. upavasa thus is a comprehensive discipline. the hindu observes several days and periods of fast in the year — ramanavami, janmashtami, sivaratri and the like. but ekadasi fast is hailed as the foremost. na gayatri /i> paramomantraha... na ekadasya samam vratam: there is no mantra higher than the gayatri, no god loftier than one’s mother, no pilgrimage centre superior to kashi and no fast to equal ekadasi. that fast is prescribed for all human beings between the ages of eight and 80. did not mahatma gandhi refine the fast from a theological concept to a peerless practical tool? lal bahadur shastri prescribed it as a patriotic exercise, to fast on mondays during a year of acute shortage. jainism classifies austerities into bahya or exterior and antar or internal. the former consists of anashan vrata or vow of fasting, unodori or avoidance of gluttony, vritti sankhepa or dietary restrictions based on a variety of factors, rasatyaga or abandonment of luscious tidbits and kayaklesa or enduring bodily pain. vritti sankhepa imposes restrictions based on dravya or reducing the number of eatables; kshetra or avoid taking food from undesirable sources; kala or impose the discipline of fixed times and, finally swabhava or to abjure food at the hands of people of a certain disposition. of all the jain festivals, dasa lakshnana is very important, being linked to the 10 supreme virtues of forbearance, modesty, straightforwardness, contentment, truth, self-restraint, austerity, renunciation, possessionless and celibacy. the word ‘‘supreme’’ signifies ‘abiding in the right faith’. here again, as in hinduism, these are all exercises designed to purify the body and elevate the mind. the christians believe that penance is but cooperating with god in the reparation for sin or in the reform of the self. the latter, in fact, more because the ordo speaks of ‘‘reparation’’, ‘‘healing’’, ‘‘renewal of life’’, all positive values in penance. here too the raison d’etre of fasting is to cleanse oneself, to give up things that one may better experience deprivation which the neighbour might suffer and, in the process, undertake acts of charity and mercy. in renouncing oneself, the christian takes up his cross and participates in the sufferings of christ. as pope paul vi brought out in his paenitemini : ‘‘...following the master, he can no longer live for himself... he will have to live for his brethren... the church insists that the virtue of penance be exercised... in the acceptance of the difficulties arising from one’s work and from human existence, in the patient bearing of the trials of earthly life and of the utter insecurity that pervades it’’. if we recognise fasting to be a spiritual aid that surmounts the artificial barriers of religion, the world would be a much saner and safer place to live in.
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