You should consume as much food as your intestines can digest without needing medicine or causing constipation. Eating more than necessary under the influence of your tongue’s taste and your intestines cannot digest it because you do not engage in sufficient physical activity can lead to diseases. The food will digest if you do eight to ten hours of regular physical activity. However, without regular physical activity, consuming heavy foods (such as excessive chilli, spices, or fried items) will affect your routine, and your mind will remain depressed. When constipation occurs, there is no interest in daily activities, and laziness persists.
Effects of Constipation on the Body
If you do not address constipation, you may become ill. The intestines need to be free of waste. Otherwise, excess heat will be generated, which could cause diseases in your anus. This can lead to gas, acidity, and several other issues. If your stomach is not cleared and you continue eating, it will create so much irritation and heat in your intestines that the stool will become as hard as plastic, causing diseases. To avoid constipation, wake up early and drink warm water first. Drink as much as you can – half a litre, three-quarters of a litre, one litre, or one and a quarter litre. Drink the water slowly while sitting in Vajrasana, and then take a short walk.
When your stomach is clean, you can live in a joyful mood and engage in devotional activities. If your life does not involve strenuous physical labour, your intestines will not be able to digest heavy foods (like samosas or halwa); these are meant for those who engage in hard physical work, such as farmers or labourers.
For you, simple food (like moong dal, bottled gourd vegetables, and two rotis) is enough for nourishment. After eating, if you feel you could still eat two more rotis, stop there because food should also include water, and there should be some space left in your stomach for air. There is no need to fill your stomach. If you do not follow this, you will need to visit a doctor, and you may experience complaints like constipation, heat in the stomach, or digestive disorders.
Relationship Between Celibacy and Constipation
If constipation persists, involuntary seminal discharge may occur. Engaging in improper actions (such as masturbation) weakens the nerves to the extent that seminal discharge can happen without effort. To control the various tendencies of the mind, it is essential first to keep the body healthy. Staying healthy does not mean increasing fat; it means consuming a balanced diet. Eat light meals; the quantity should be less but adequate. This enhances our spiritual strength, while overeating, even sattvic(pure) food, can eventually lead to lethargy and dullness.
Overeating – Eating Beyond Need
Milk is considered sattvic, and it promotes sattvic qualities in small quantities. However, in excess, even this sattva (goodness) can turn into tamas (ignorance), leading to procrastination.
Why get trapped by the mind’s cravings? Move forward with restraint. If your stomach isn’t clear, don’t eat a full meal. Manage with some salad instead. This will naturally clear your stomach, and in the morning, drink warm water as soon as you wake up; you will feel empty and light. Try this for just one day, and you’ll find four rotis (bread) are enough. If you don’t need food in the morning, skip it. If your stomach isn’t clear and you keep eating three to four times a day, layers of waste will accumulate in your intestines, and your body will bloat. Keeping the body light and healthy is essential; otherwise, even daily tasks, let alone devotional practices, won’t get done.
Mindful Eating – Beneficial for Health
Four to five rotis and some vegetables in 24 hours are sufficient for nourishment. Many saints have spent days without food, absorbed in devotion. Overly delicious foods won’t help you maintain Celibacy. Excessive, tasty food will weaken your intestines, making digestion difficult. The body can digest more food if you do intense physical labour for eight to ten hours, such as digging, ploughing, or running. But if you lack such activities and eat merely to satisfy the tongue, it will cause problems.
Just as food is essential, so are water and air. By neglecting this balance, you’re damaging your body. There’s a principle to eating: keep one part of the stomach for food, one part for water, and leave half a part empty for air. Doing this will increase your energy and keep you inclined toward devotion. But when all four parts are filled with food, and there’s no urge to drink water, toxins will accumulate in your body. Water helps remove harmful elements through urination and softens waste in the intestines, aiding in its elimination.
What is the Purpose of Life?
Your life should be healthy. If an incurable disease suddenly arises, God provides strength, but it’s your fault if you’re causing your downfall. A person who overeats can never take an interest in devotion. Only one who consumes light food can remain steady in devotion. If you’re constipated, fast for two days and drink only water; this will naturally cleanse your stomach. But if you keep consuming tasty foods in excess, do you think interest in devotion or stability in celibacy will develop? Is satisfying the tongue the sole purpose of our life? How long will you keep eating? How long will you keep nourishing the body? This body will perish one day. Fulfill the purpose for which you have come into this world.
Celibacy: Old Harmful Habits and Their Consequences
If you avoid harmful actions, like masturbation or illicit relations, and keep your stomach clean, celibacy will not be easily disturbed. Regular Involuntary discharge is often due to years of regularly wasting energy. If you don’t stimulate your genitals, gradual control will develop, and one day, you can become steady in celibacy. Only when you indulge in an unhealthy diet or wrong thoughts does involuntary discharge occur—this is a result of one’s actions.
In the Mahabharata, Bhishma explains the concept of a “manovaha nadi” (a nerve) in the body. Discharge cannot happen unless this nerve is heated. There are two main sources of this heat: first, wrong thoughts (indulging in sexual thinking), and second, wrong actions (masturbation or sexual relations). When you engage in lustful thinking, this “fire of lust” heats the manovaha nadi, causing loss of semen.
Your routine and diet should be disciplined. If you watch explicit videos and engage in habits like masturbation, no physician in the world can help you achieve celibacy. Today, even young children suffer from issues like genital disorders, back pain, and weak eyesight. No one wants to discuss or hear about this topic—many seek only the freedom to act thoughtlessly to enjoy their senses.
Be cautious; life is no joke. Whether you are a householder or a spiritual aspirant, following Brahmacharya is essential. It will make you a good householder and help you become a devotee. If you continue to waste this energy, in the future, you may be unfit for any meaningful purpose. Over time, various pains will develop in your body, your thinking capacity will weaken, your memory will decline, and ultimately, you may fall into depression.
Eat to Live, Don’t Live to Eat
The purpose of food is to nourish life, not to indulge in taste. We should avoid being captivated by the temptations of the senses. Try living this way for a few days. This doesn’t mean we should stubbornly restrict our intake; rather, eat appropriately and in balance. If you feel weak, you can consume milk and fruits only if necessary. If you can manage with one meal, eating three times a day is unnecessary.
Conclusion
If you don’t take caution now, your body will weaken further, and you may face more illnesses. What will you do then? How will you fulfil your duties or engage in spiritual practice with weight gain, increasing body fat, and difficulty moving? By adopting a balanced diet now, your body can naturally restore itself without needing medications. Your inner strength, purity, radiance, and devotion will grow. Eat moderately to remain calm and content. You’ll find true joy when your digestion is smooth, your body is healthy, and your mind is balanced in a state of goodness. Take two light meals, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, and devote your time to spiritual practice.
Food can be either nectar or poison. Much of the time you waste—like oversleeping or lacking consistency in chanting—is primarily due to your diet. Practice moderation. Starting today, eat only enough to avoid fatigue in your studies or work, avoid sluggishness, keep digestion smooth, and maintain a happy state of mind. Someone who eats simple food, like dry bread and lentils, doesn’t drift toward sensual thoughts. Try having rich foods like sweets, fried bread, or pastries; they will surely stir up lusty thoughts.
Guidance By: Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj
