Brahmacarya
idea · 2 works · 2 mentions · 4 anchored passages
brahmacarya · kṛṣṇa-brahmacārī · śabala-brahmacārī · śavala-brahmacārī · śukla-brahmacārī
in the texts
Atharvaveda (Paippalāda)
Ritual studentship/celibate discipline, presented as a cosmogonic and socially empowering force.
The brahmacārī bears the blazing brahman;
By brahmacarya a maiden wins a young husband.
The brahmacārin guards both of them with austerity;
Vratisasana
The vow of chastity/sexual discipline, divided into three (or four, in appendix) grades depending on degree of contact with women and marital status.
[VS_29j§3] A *kṛṣṇa-brahmacārī* is one who marries once.
That is a *śukla-brahmacārī*, the ultimate state of *brahmacarya*.
They are the *kṛṣṇa-brahmacārī*, the *śavala-brahmacārī*, and the *śukla-brahmacārī*.