Fasting and feasting

“No religion will last very long if it does not understand the common needs and desires of people and keeps insisting only on strict discipline at all times. Other than fasting there must also be feasting, singing ,dancing,and joyous celebrations,” says Swami Tejomayananda. Hinduism is a joyous celebration of life. After every puja there is a Prasad, a sweets distribution or a lunch or dinner for all who attended. Not only this, but there are major celebrations like Holi, which is a riot of colour, joy and abandon, a loving meeting with friends and family and of course feasting. Dashehara and Diwali are again a festival of Lights and the victory of good over evil, exchange of gifts and bonhomie all around. Ganesh Chaturthi, Janamashtami, Shivaratri, Navaratri, and many big and small festivals that keep occurring through the year are great occasions for celebration and feasting.

All these are accompanied by sincere prayers and pujas to the Lord as well as fasting and disciplines of all kinds to reign in the wayward human mind. Just as there are different diets for a child and an adult, Sadhana in Hinduism is not ‘one size fits all’. It is very understanding of the variety that is the human brain. Simple routines like the offering of water to the Tulasi plant or the Peepal tree are enough for a simple uneducated mind. The more evolved being is advised higher disciplines like fasting, silence, withdrawal, introspection, Japa or meditation. While Intellectuals dwell on the deepest philosophy of the Vedas and the Upanishads, the devotional seekers connect to the Lord through devotional music and dance. They experience the same oneness with the entire cosmos that the highest meditational experience brings. Each is free to choose what suits him the best, feasting,fasting, or both by turns. Prarthna Saran, President Chinmaya Mission New Delhi can be contacted at prarthnasaran@gmail.com