Upanishads · Jābāladarśana 1.14
॥
Devanāgarī
ब्रह्मभावे मनश्चारं ब्रह्मचर्यं परन्तप
Transliteration (IAST)
brahmabhāve manaścāraṃ brahmacaryaṃ parantapa
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
ब्रह्म-भावे मनः-चारंbrahma-bhāve manaḥ-cāraṃin the state of brahman, the wandering of the mind
ब्रह्मचर्यं परन्तपbrahmacaryaṃ parantapacelibacy, O scourge of foes
Translation
"The wandering of the mind in the state of brahman — [that is] celibacy, O scourge of foes."
Version
f278f28d28f7 · published Aug 7, 2026, 8:28:46 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Again a raising to the ground, and this time it is done through the word itself. Brahmacharya literally means "walking in brahman": brahma and charya, from char, "to walk, to conduct oneself." The word never by itself meant "celibacy"; it meant the manner of life of a pupil, living with his teacher and occupied in the study of the Veda.
Here this literal sense is restored: celibacy is manash-chara, "the wandering of the mind" in brahman, that is, the mind's constant occupation with the Highest. This definition is, in my view, the best of all that have been given for celibacy, and here is why. It explains what prohibitions do not explain: why celibacy is given to one and not to another.
Celibacy is not an empty space, but an occupation with something else. A mind occupied with nothing at once takes up whatever it is accustomed to; and a person who only forbids himself things wages a war he is bound to lose, for he has nothing with which to fill the vacated place. The Vaishnava side expresses this through the same verse cited above: the taste falls away from one who has seen the Highest (Gita 2.59). And its whole practice is built on replacement: not "do not think of that," but "sing, listen, serve" — that is, give the mind work.
The address parantapa, "scourge of foes," is usually applied to Arjuna; here it is applied to Sankriti, apparently for the sake of the meter. But in this place it comes fittingly: the discourse is precisely about how victories are won.