The fourth of the five yamas in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, generally read as continence or moderation in the conservation of vital energy, a broader charge than the absolute lifelong celibacy the same term names as a Jain monastic mahavrata (see Brahmacharya (Chastity), the corresponding Jain vow), reflecting the Yoga Sutras' address to householder as well as renunciate practitioners.
Facts
Disputed
Origin PeriodDated by scholars anywhere from the second century BCE, on older assumptions of a single ancient author, to as late as the fourth or fifth century CE, on newer philological readings that treat the text as a later compilation. There is no scholarly consensus on a single date for the Yoga Sutras. 1 Attributed Author / CompilerTraditionally attributed to Patanjali, the compiler of the Yoga Sutras. Scholarship debates whether this is the same Patanjali credited with the Sanskrit grammatical treatise of that name, and whether the text as it stands is the work of a single author or an edited compilation of older material. 1 Status
Status Within the TraditionStandard teaching, not formally defined 1 Doctrinal Status DetailThe fourth of Patanjali's five yamas, ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha, named as a set at Yoga Sutra 2.30. Yoga Sutra 2.31 further names them a mahavrata, a great vow, when held universally, unconditioned by birth, place, time or circumstance, the same term Jain ethics uses for its own parallel five vows, without either scheme deriving from the other. 1 Origins
Place of OriginIndia; nothing internal to the Yoga Sutras or its early commentarial tradition fixes a specific region of composition within the subcontinent. 1 Origin of the NameSanskrit brahmacharya, literally conduct leading toward brahman. 2 Attestation
Meaning in the Attesting SourceThe fourth of the five yamas, generally read as continence or moderation in the conservation of vital energy rather than absolute celibacy. 1 Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Source The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, Translation, and CommentaryEdwin F. Bryant
In Language
Opposes
Hindu ethics: Brahmacharya (sexual restraint) as the traditional discipline countering Kama, one of the six enemies (arishadvarga).
Originates in Language
Source Encyclopedia of HinduismDenise Cush, Catherine Robinson and Michael York (eds.)
Same As
Hindu-tagged Yama virtue completing the same-as link its Jain-tagged twin already carries.
Sources
1. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary
Edwin F. Bryant, North Point Press, 2009Yoga Sutras 2.30 and commentary on brahmacharya
2. Encyclopedia of Hinduism
Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson and Michael York (eds.), Routledge, 2008- the brahmacharya entry
- Originates in Language: Sanskrit, Stored language property on this entity, cited to this source: sanskrit
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