|
The essence of blood, when transformed, becomes shukra, and this shukra is food for the brain. In the absence of shukra, or in case of its impaired functioning, the entire constitution may be impaired, the body may become susceptible to disease, and mental and spiritual sádhaná may be impaired. Therefore, restraint is a must for every man and woman, because only self-control helps achieve the maximum preservation of shukra.
In the human body, one day’s shukra becomes surplus in every twenty-eight days. In the case of unmarried males, this excess shukra is either passed out with the urine or expelled while dreaming. It is not at all abnormal for an unmarried male to have a seminal discharge three or four times a month.
In the case of married persons, sexual relations in excess of four times a month can lead to an improper waste of shukra. So as regards the question of restraint and lack of restraint, the more one practises restraint, the greater will be his or her well-being.(1)
For married persons:
Keeping in view the progress of society, fit persons should have more children and unfit persons should have less.
Of course, for want of proper education even the children of fit parents may become a liability to the society rather than an asset. Hence it is better to restrict oneself to producing that number of children for which proper upbringing is possible. But at the same time, attempts at birth control by physical damage to men or women, or by permanent destruction of their procreative capacity, can never be supported, because such attempts may bring about a severe mental reaction in them at any time. But if one has to accept permanent birth control for some special reason, then permission should be requested from the ácárya. The ácárya in such cases will ascertain the views of the Ácárya Board and then guide the person.
Footnotes
(1) N.B.: Many people give the meaning of the word “Brahmacarya” as “the preservation of shukra”, but neither of the two words “Brahma” and “carya” has any relation with the retention of shukra. “Brahmacarya” means “to keep the mind attached to Brahma”. Actually the former, so-called Brahmacarya is divided into two classes called naeśt́hika and prájápatyá. Those who are unmarried will follow naeśt́hika Brahmacarya. That is to say, they will never let shukra be wasted beyond the normal surplus. And those who are married will follow prájápatyá Brahmacarya, i.e., they will try not to have sexual relations more than four times in a month.