Some Health Rules for Women

1. Women must make it a habit to spend some time outdoors every day in the open air and the sunshine.

2. The best room of the house should be used for giving birth.

3. During the period of menstruation:

a. Women must not bend forward to lift heavy loads and utensils.

b. They must not touch any adult male.⁽¹⁾

c. They should not blow conch shells or sing loudly.⁽²⁾

d. They should not remain in close proximity to fire.

e. They should eat nutritious and easily-digestible food.

f. They should not exert themselves excessively.

If mothers are not healthy themselves, their children cannot remain healthy. So a mother who has the welfare of her children uppermost in her mind should keep a careful watch on her own health. A woman should be allowed to rest and abstain from all sorts of household chores for at least twenty-one days after a childbirth.

g. Ashokaśaśt́hii and Ashokáśt́amii [[observances]]:⁽³⁾

On the Ashokaśaśt́hii day every menstruating woman should take in one gulp six mung or máskalái seeds along with six ashoka flowers or buds. They should be taken either in a ripe banana or with water or milk. Similarly, on the Ashokaśt́amii day, eight mung or máskalái seeds and eight ashoka flowers or buds should be taken.

4. Married women and widows should also observe ashokaśaśt́hii and ashokaśt́amii vows. On other śaśt́hii days they should eat fruits and roots instead of rice and bread during the day, and in the evening must never eat rice or similar preparations.

Physical Restraint

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.⁽⁴⁾

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/á. The ácárya/á in such cases will ascertain the views of the Ácárya Board and then guide the person.

Footnotes

(1) For her health, a woman should avoid stimulation through intimate contact during menstruation. –Trans.

(2) Excessive pressure created by singing and playing wind instruments may be harmful to health at this time. –Trans.

(3) Where the items to be taken on these days are not easily obtainable, the women of that place are not required to take them.

(4) 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 prájápatya Brahmacarya, i.e., they will try not to have sexual relations more than four times in a month.